MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — A possible serial robber died Monday after being shot by several law enforcement officers, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner and Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Surveillance video showed the moments when law enforcement officials were chasing the suspected serial robber right before they shot and killed him.
The shooting happened in Montgomery County on Lane Lane, near the North Freeway and Westwood Drive.
Authorities said several agencies were teaming up and watching the suspected serial robber.
Law enforcement officials said the North Belt Crime Suppression Unit, which is made up of multiple agencies, was tracking a man suspected of robberies in robberies from Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. It was at a liquor store where they say they observed that the suspect engaged in another armed robbery around 8 p.m. Monday.
Officers from the Houston Police Department, deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Office, and State Troopers from DPS were involved in a task force to investigate the suspected serial robber.
They said after they saw him robbing a liquor store in a strip mall, they began to chase him.
“Officers observed him robbing the folks inside at gunpoint. As he came out, they engaged him, tried to get him stopped, he was in his vehicle,” HPD Chief Troy Finner said.
Surveillance video from dance studio near the liquor store shows patrons and the business owner notice the commotion outside and run to hide behind the front desk for safety.
“We didn’t understand what happened at first, just the amount of cops with the guns, just shaken a little,” Anton Ivanov, owner of Dancespot dance studio, said. “Just hide behind the front desk and stay for a moment there.”
Cameras from a restaurant further down the strip mall showed the suspect running and holding what appears to be a firearm in his hand and then being chased by police.
At one point the suspect displayed a firearm and that’s when five officers discharged their weapons.
Finner described what happened next as the suspect ran behind the strip mall.
“Officers were giving him commands. They saw the gun drop the gun. He ran behind the strip center along the bayou, went down into the bayou excuse me. Went down into the bayou. At some point, officers feared for their lives. They engaged and shot,” Finner said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital where he later died.
“This is Montgomery County. Probably the safest community in the entire State of Texas, so let's not get too complex here. Something very simple happened here,” Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said during a press conference on the shooting.
A total of six officers discharged their weapons according to authorities, including four HPD officers, a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy, and a State Trooper. No officers were injured.
All those who discharged their weapons were placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
“We are going to investigate it. You have to make sure that you can justify the use of deadly force to take a life in any community and Montgomery County is no different,” he said. “But the difference is we're not going to act like something special happened here. It's all captured on video. It will be presented to a grand jury here in Montgomery County.”
Finner said they will adhere to their policy of releasing officer video within 30 days of the shooting.