Officers open fire in separate incidents overnight
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Elissa RivasHOUSTON (KTRK) -- There were two officer-involved shootings in our area overnight.
The first happened outside a north Harris County nightclub. A deputy opened fire on a reportedly belligerent driver doing doughnuts in the parking of the Big Texas club on Holzwarth near Mayday.
The Harris County sheriff's deputies were working extra jobs at the night club when they had to escort a man out who'd gotten unruly. But the trouble wouldn't end there.
When the man got into his vehicle, he was reportedly doing doughnuts and driving erratically, according to deputies, so one of them stepped in to get him to stop, trying to pull him from the vehicle.
That, they tell us, is when this happened.
"The suspect put the truck in drive, striking the deputy, knocking him down," said Deputy Thomas Gilliland with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "Two other deputies who were working the approved extra job also came to the assistance of the deputy."
The Harris County Sheriff's Office tells us these deputies were in fear for their life, so one of them drew his weapon and fired, hitting the vehicle several times. The driver tried to get out and run, but was taken into custody.
The deputies are going to be OK and the driver was not hurt, but will likely face charges, including aggravated assault on a peace officer.
Suspect charged in other officer-involved shooting
There was also an officer involved shooting across town in far southwest Houston. This one involved a dispute between a man and his estranged common law wife.
Police say officers arrived to an assault in-progress call at 16206 Alden Ridge and heard a female voice from inside the home pleading with someone to stop hitting her. When the door to the home opened, officers saw the female and noticed a male run to the back of the house.
The officer ran to the side of the residence and saw the male run into the backyard. The officer could not see one of the male's hands in the waistband area. The male jumped the wooden fence in the backyard. Believing the male possibly had a weapon, the officer drew his weapon and looked over the fence. The officer commanded the male to stop as the male ran toward the side of another residence. When the male turned his upper body to face the officer and then raised his right arm, the officer feared for his safety and discharged his duty weapon twice, striking the suspect.
The suspect, Morgan Chadwick Wilson, was shot one time in each leg and transported to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital where he remains in stable condition.
Wilson , 21, is charged with felony assault (family violence) and evading arrest.
HPD Officer M. Rivera of the Southwest Patrol Division discharged his weapon and was not injured. He was sworn in as an officer in March 2009.
As is customary with officer-involved shootings in the city limits, the incident is being investigated by the HPD Homicide and Internal Affairs Divisions.
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