HOUSTON – Police said officers were forced to shoot and kill an armed man after he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and shot her five times.
The shooting was reported about 12:30 a.m. near Winrock Boulevard and Ella Lee Lane.
Houston police said the man, later identified by police as 23-year-old Willie Simmons, kidnapped the woman from her southeast Houston home. The woman managed to use Facetime to call her cousin, who called police and said she could see a gun pointed at the woman’s head in the video.
“The female complainant was seen by our reportee (sic) in a vehicle with the suspect with potentially a gun to her head,” said Houston police Executive Assistant Chief Matt Slinkard.
Police said they went to Simmons' apartment in west Houston and could hear a woman screaming inside when they arrived. Officers kicked down the door and Simmons began shooting at them, police said. Officers took cover and saw Simmons shoot the woman, police said.
“It was just about 1 (o'clock) in the morning and then I heard shouting, and after I called 911, there were five gunshots,” said a woman who lives nearby who didn't want to be identified. “I would say not more than 10 minutes later, another five gunshots.”
As officers were trying to get to the woman, Simmons pulled out a knife and came at them, police said. Officers fired several times, killing the man, police said.
“The suspect, at some point, picked up a knife, refusing verbal commands from our officers to drop that weapon,” Slinkard said.
The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment and is expected to survive, police said.
No officers were injured.
The three officers involved in the shooting were assigned to the Midwest Patrol Division. Sgt. Seymour has been with HPD since 2003; Officer Few and Officer Harris have been with HPD since January 2016.