HPD shoots man accused of firing from car
Suspect has surgery for a non-lethal injury

By PAIGE HEWITT
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Dec. 12, 2010, 9:08PM

Houston police early Sunday shot a man accused of firing several shots from a vehicle around the Galleria area, officials said.

The man, whose identity was not released, underwent surgery for a non-life-threatening injury at Ben Taub General Hospital shortly after he was arrested just south of downtown. His condition was not available.

The incident started around 2:30 a.m., when two Houston police officers working an extra job at a club near Westheimer and Sage were walking out to their personal vehicles and heard gunfire.

One officer saw a flash in a car eastbound on Westheimer, and then saw a man raising a gun outside a window.

The officers pursued the vehicle, catching up with it at a red light on Westheimer and the 610 Loop.

"The officers see an arm extend out of the window, waving a gun," said HPD spokesman John Cannon.

One of the officers approached the vehicle, identified himself as a policeman and ordered the man to drop his weapon. The suspect refused, and the officer fired several shots. The second officer approached the car, firing one shot.

The suspects fled in their car.

HPD alerted patrol officers, one of whom spotted the car in the 2700 block of Travis. The patrolman pulled over the vehicle, learning one of the two suspects in the vehicle had been shot.

He was taken to the hospital, and the other man was taken to police headquarters. A gun was recovered from the suspects' vehicle, Cannon said.

Police are still investigating whether the gunfire was random or intended to strike someone. "No one has come forward saying they were fired upon," Cannon said.

The officers who fired shots at the suspects are M. Campbell, a 12-year veteran in the tactical operations unit, and R. Gibson, a patrolman for three years who the southeast side.

HPD's internal affairs division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office routinely investigate police shootings.

paige.hewitt@chron.com

 

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