HPD officers shoot armed suspect in NE Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An armed man wanted on multiple warrants was rushed to the hospital after several officers opened fire at him Friday evening in northeast Houston.

According to a tweet from Houston police, it happened at 11000 Spottswood Drive near Little York Road. Police say officers were responding to an assault call at around 6:40 p.m.

When officers arrived, they found the suspect barricaded in a wooden shed at the back of a home.

According to Chief Art Acevedo, the officers tried to calmly persuade the suspect to drop his weapon, but he never cooperated.

At one point, the suspect asked to see his girlfriend who was at the scene. He even pointed the weapon on himself, according to Acevedo, who reviewed an officer’s bodycam video.

“Repeatedly throughout the encounter, he kept telling officers to take him out. He was basically ready to die, and saying he was going to force them to shoot him,” Acevedo said. “Unfortunately, at one point, the suspect finally brought up the gun and aimed it toward the officers. And that’s when the officers fired, striking the suspect.”

The suspect was then flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

HPD said there were five officers who shot at the suspect. They are being placed on desk duty pending an investigation.

The chief also mentioned that a friend of the suspect told police that the suspect once told him that if he was ever to engage police, he would shoot them.