HOUSTON — A 34-year-old man was charged with four felonies after opening fire on police at the end of a chase in northwest Houston Thursday morning, according to the Houston Police Department.
Anthony J. Garcia, 34, is charged with two counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer, felony evading arrest in a motor vehicle and felon in possession of a weapon.
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Garcia remains hospitalized after being wounded by police during the shootout.
Garcia has a lengthy criminal history going back to 2005.
What happened
Two Houston police officers, J. Ready, and C. Wade, spotted what they said was a suspicious vehicle driving in an area known to them for narcotics activity. They followed the vehicle which then sped up and ran multiple stop signs.
The officers tried to stop the 34-year-old driver, but then he threw something out of the car before turning south on Bingle Road. The driver then lost control of his vehicle, crashed into a tree and spun around.
The driver then open fire with a VSKA AK-style rifle through his windshield at the police, investigators said. The two officers returned fire hitting the shooter multiple times.
The officers then approached the driver and demanded that he surrender, which he did. The officers then began to give him first aid.
"These officers were very lucky. If you see the front of their vehicle, the suspect was firing from inside his vehicle, and he struck their vehicle numerous times in the hood and in the windshield,” HPD Assist. Chief Wyatt Martin said. “The officers were very lucky that they were not hit."
The two police officers, one a four-year veteran and the other a three-year, were not injured in the shooting, police said. The suspect driver was shot in the arm and leg. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
"Thankfully, like I said, looking at the front of that police car, it's a miracle that neither officer was struck,” Martin said.
"When you look at the windshields and look at the police vehicle, the amount of bullets from an AK-47 and they're not hurt at all, that's amazing," said HPD Chief Troy Finner.