HOUSTON — All inbound lanes of the Southwest Freeway were shut down at Hillcroft Avenue during Monday evening rush hour after Houston police said a suspect was shot and killed at the end of a chase.
According to HPD Executive Chief Thomas Hardin, the incident began on Sunday evening when a husband and a wife got into a domestic violence incident at their apartment near the intersection of Clarewood and Hillcroft. Hardin said the couple had a child together and the woman and child left the apartment to go to a relative's home.
On Monday, the suspect showed up at the relative's residence and kidnapped his wife and child at gunpoint, Hardin said.
Houston police said they sent officers to a location where they thought the suspect might be. They found the vehicle but the suspect refused to stop and instead led police on a chase with his wife and child in the vehicle. The woman was pleading with her husband to stop but he wouldn't listen, according to Rangecast audio during the chase.
During the chase, Hardin said the suspect fired at officers two different times. He said that when the HPD chopper got over the scene, ground units backed off in hopes the suspect would stop and let the survivors out. They said he didn't, forcing officers to perform a PIT maneuver to get the vehicle to stop in the northbound lanes of the Southwest Freeway near Hillcroft.
Three officers opened fire on the suspect at the end of the chase, Hardin said. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 4:45 p.m.
"I want to commend our officers and supervisors. It is a tremendous amount of information they have to take in during a situation like this -- a mobile hostage scene where they were shot at two separate times -- yet they continued to do what was right and try to save these hostages and at the end of the day both hostages were rescued unharmed because of the courageous acts of our officers and our supervisors," Hardin said.
Both hostages were unharmed but shaken up, according to Hardin. He said he wasn't sure how many shots were fired during the incident but said the chase was longer than 10 minutes. No bystanders were injured.
Hardin noted the dangerous situation for motorists on the freeway. Inbound lanes of US-69 were shut down near Hillcroft for hours after the shooting.
Here's the update police provided at the scene:
Resources for Domestic Violence victims
On Tuesday, Houston police told KHOU 11 that one in four homicides as of last month, investigated are domestic violence murder cases.
Right now, Houston police say from January to Sept. 18 of this year, 49 homicides they’ve investigated are domestic violence-related.
Mayor John Whitmire has this message to anyone dealing with domestic violence.
“Reach out for help from the Houston Area Women’s Center,” the mayor said. “I would also emphasize regardless of your immigration status you don’t have to live in an abusive dangerous environment.”
The Houston Area Women’s Center said it's expanding to triple the capacity size of the facility to help more survivors needing emergency housing next year.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, here are some discreet ways to reach out for help.
The Houston Area Women’s Center has a 24-hour hotline for victims of domestic violence at 713-528-2121 or 1-800-256-0551.
The Family Time Crisis Center can also be reached 24 hours a day at 281-446-2615.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
Crisis Text Line: Text START to 88788.