[KHOU] HOUSTON -- A group of suspects targeted the wrong person to ambush after one of them was shot by a Houston police officer they were following on the way home late Thursday.According to the Houston Police Department, it started at 11:30 p.m. when the 34-year veteran officer was heading home in his personal vehicle from a second job and noticed he was being followed as he drove down Woodhead Street in the Montrose area.
The officer turned onto Indiana Street to see if the car would keep going, but it didn't. The suspect vehicle stopped and one male got out with a gun in hand. The suspect started toward the officer, who happened to still be in uniform.
The officer got out of his car and repeatedly identified himself as a police officer and ordered the suspect to stop. The suspect ignored the command and pointed his gun at the officer.
"At that point in time, a rear passenger got out and began running toward the sergeant as he went under street light he had arm extended and was shooting pistol directly at the sergeant," Kese Smith, with HPD, said.
The 15-year-old suspect was shot in the
The suspect ran back to the car where three other suspects were waiting, and the car expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.
About 10 minutes later, HPD got a call about a maimed male on the ground at Cushing and Webster. HPD responded and spotted the suspect vehicle that was part of the officer-involved shooting and was able to take three suspects, ages 16, 17 and 18, into custody.
The fourth suspect was taken to a local hospital at death's door.
People in this neighborhood say he is a hero who has gone above and beyond to protect this community, and they feel his actions send a strong message to criminals to not come back.
"He is the type that would stand up and turn the tables on everything," one concerned neighbor said.
"Hopefully this will keep a few people out that shouldn't be here," Mindy Billon, neighbor, said.
Neighbors say this area of Montrose has recently seen a surge break-ins and people being followed home at random.
They say the sergeant who stood up for himself has been standing up for this neighborhood for years.
"He is not just a neighborhood, he has personally taken control of the neighborhood," a concerned neighbor said. "On many occasions when he has come home at night he has helped us by stopping car break-ins, house break-ins."
The suspect who was shot in the
The three others have been booked into jail police say they're still not sure if these would-be-robbers wanted to rob the sergeant, steal his car or both.