4 HPD officers fired after unloading 21 shots at man in distress

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Four Houston police officers have been terminated after an internal investigation determined they did not use reasonable force when they fired their weapons 21 times at a man who had been experiencing a mental health crisis, killing him in April after he was already injured and on the ground, the police chief announced Thursday.

During a news conference, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo presented video footage from body cameras that showed 27-year-old Nicolas Chavez, who had already been shot and was bleeding, kneeling on the ground and grabbing a stun gun that had been dropped when the four officers shot him.

Acevedo said although Chavez had picked up the stun gun, the officers had plenty of time to back up and take cover. Chavez was already injured, having been hit by gunfire earlier in his standoff with police. Officers had also fired bean bag rounds and stun guns at him before he was killed.

“Quite frankly, it’s inexplicable to me when they had plenty of opportunity to back up and continue to be doing what they were doing for them to stay the line and shoot a man 21 times,” Acevedo said. “I cannot defend that.”

The footage was shown during a news conference that also included Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was visibly upset by the shooting.

Note: ABC13 chose not to carry the live release of the footage due to its strong graphic content.

WATCH: Mayor Turner on officers’ firings: ‘You have to call a ball a ball and a strike a strike’

Just moments after seeing the graphic body camera footage showing four officers fire off 21 rounds at a suicidal man, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was on the verge of tears with what he saw. In the video, a conflicted mayor talks about what he has done already for the police department, while also offering an important message directed at every person living in his city.

Moments after the news conference, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said the case against the officers is being presented directly to a grand jury.

“I met with the mother, father and wife of Nicolas Chavez to listen to their concerns and personally assure them that our Civil Rights Division prosecutors will conduct a thorough, independent review of all the evidence in his death. Once we complete our review, we will present the case directly to a grand jury. That grand jury will determine whether the Houston Police officers who shot Nicolas Chavez were justified or whether they committed a crime,” Ogg said in a statement.

Those fired were identified as: Officer Patrick Rubio, who had been with the department since May 2018; Officer Luis Alvarado, with the department since March 2019; Officer Omar Tapia, with the department since March 2019; and Sgt. Benjamin LeBlanc, with the department since October 2008.