Officer-involved shootings leave 2 dead. 1 critical in 24 hours

What should have been routine encounters with law enforcement this weekend ended with two men dead and one man in critical condition after Houston-area officers fired their weapons on three occasions in less than 24 hours.

Local police agencies are investigating the circumstances surrounding the three officer-involved shootings that spanned Saturday and Sunday. In the first incident, an unarmed, allegedly intoxicated man in northeast Houston was shot and killed by a Houston police officer early Saturday evening after he became agitated and allegedly charged the officer.

Later that night, a man suspected of trying to carjack another man's vehicle in northwest Harris County was shot and killed by an off-duty sheriff's deputy who came upon the scene and became involved in a struggle with the suspect. The next day, a 29-year-old man was flown to Memorial Hermann in critical condition after he allegedly tried to flee a routine traffic stop in Cypress, dragging a Harris County deputy who then fired a shot that struck the man between the neck and ear.

In all three incidents, the officers first deployed Tasers, which had little effect.

"In a city this large, these type of things, they may not happen for months, and then you can have some that happen like this" in a far shorter period, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland told reporters after the third shooting Sunday. "The city had one yesterday also. Again, it shows the citizens that this job is very dangerous, and it's something that we have to be fully aware of all the time."

Identification is pending by the Harris County medical examiner for the two men who were fatally shot. The two Harris County deputies have yet to be identified by the sheriff's office. The deputies involved in the Saturday night and Sunday shootings are veterans of 25 and 15 years, respectively. Both were to be placed on leave for a minimum of five days, during which time they would undergo medical and psychological evaluations.

The HPD officer involved in the first shooting was identified as K. Levi, a four-year veteran of the force. He will be placed on administrative duty for up to three days, according to city police spokesman John Cannon.

Saturday was the first time that the Houston police officer had fired his weapon in the line of duty, Cannon said.

Gilliland said the sheriff's office would need to check the personnel records of the two deputies involved, but that neither had been involved in an officer-involved shooting in recent memory.

The authorities investigating the incidents include the homicide and internal affairs divisions of the sheriff's office, the city's inspector general, the district attorney's shooting team and HPD.

Shootings by police in Houston have been in the spotlight. The Chronicle recently reported that HPD's records show that more than 150 people were fatally shot or wounded by Houston police officers from 2010 to 2015.

And recently, in a strongly worded 19-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Keith P. Ellison rejected the city of Houston's attempts to end a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of an unarmed, mentally ill man who was shot and killed in front of neighbors by a city police officer, who was cleared in the incident.

Here is a look at how the shootings unfolded.

Saturday evening

The first incident, involving an HPD officer, began when the officer, driving northbound at about 5:45 p.m. Saturday along the feeder road of the Eastex Freeway, saw a man at the intersection of Collingsworth Street pulling on a traffic sign.

Officer Levi pulled over and said the man appeared agitated and was yelling obscenities, authorities said. Cannon said the man appeared to be "under the influence of a strong narcotic."

As Levi tried to calm the man, he began charging at the officer, Cannon said.

After the officer fired his Taser to little avail and backed away into lanes of traffic, the man charged at him again. Levi fired his weapon multiple times and struck the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Less than four hours later, an off-duty deputy, who was working a security job, pulled into a Walgreens parking lot at Falling Creek and FM 1960 in northwest Harris County. He saw what he thought was an attempted carjacking.

One man was struggling with another man and seemed to be attempting to take control of the driver's side of a black two-door sedan, authorities said. The deputy intervened, and the suspect came toward him, Gilliland said.

The two fell to the ground and began fighting. The deputy discharged his Taser, to minimal effect. The suspect grabbed the Taser and punched the deputy, Gilliland said. The deputy pushed the suspect off of him, but the suspect grabbed him again and continued fighting.

The deputy then fired his weapon three times, striking the suspect. The deputy was "fearing for his life at that point," Gilliland said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene after EMS arrived. The deputy was treated for lacerations and cuts at a hospital and released at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

The motorist later told authorities that he had picked up the suspect when he asked for a ride. While they were driving, the passenger began to talk incoherently. The man stopped at the Walgreens to drop him off.

Sunday

The third incident began about 4:30 p.m. Sunday when a deputy, who was working a traffic initiative, pulled over a driver whom he suspected of either a seat-belt or registration violation on the southbound feeder road of Interstate 45 at Spring Cypress. The sheriff's office is reviewing video to determine what the initial alleged violation was.

The motorist then started to drive away. The deputy told him to stop, Gilliland said, but the driver continued to pull away as the deputy held onto the car.

Hanging half inside the car, the deputy used his Taser to jolt the driver, but he did not stop.

The deputy then fired his weapon once, hitting the motorist.

The driver had been trying to push the deputy out of the car, Gilliland said, and the deputy feared he would be run over at the busy intersection. After firing his weapon, he fell to the ground near the median in the road. Witnesses called 911 and initially said they thought a deputy had been run over, Gilliland said.

The motorist was taken by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann where he was in critical condition Sunday evening. He had one surgery. The deputy was taken by ground transportation to Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, where he was treated for lacerations.

Staff writer Mike D. Smith contributed to this report.