HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – The Harris County Sheriff’s Office increased patrols around Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s home after a driver fired several shots near the residence over the weekend.
According to his office, the incident happened Friday night while Garcia and his wife attended an event. There was no damage to his home and no reported injuries.
HCSO said after the shooting, they assigned a deputy to monitor Garcia’s street for 12 hours and then decided to step up patrols in the neighborhood due to the “threat of political violence.”
On Monday, KPRC 2 Investigates captured video of a Harris County Sheriff’s Office vehicle parked yards away from Garcia’s home. Minutes later, that vehicle was replaced by an HCSO SUV.
Although there has been an increase in patrols surrounding Garcia’s home, his office says they don’t believe the commissioner, his family, or neighbors were being targeted, but believe the gunshots were “celebratory gunfire.”
“No bullet holes have been found in any of the homes in the area, and there is no credible evidence that the incident was anything more than indiscriminate gunfire. No one was home at the time when it happened,” Garcia’s office confirmed.
Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia released the following statement regarding the incident:
“As a lifelong police officer, I know all too well how dangerous randomly shooting guns into the air can be. Celebrating with gunfire isn’t just reckless, it’s stupid. This is not the first time a gun has been fired in this manner in an area close to my home, and frankly, I’m tired of it. This is why I have funded a pilot project on testing gunshot detection technology as an effort to prevent these dangerous acts from taking place in the east Aldine area. I will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to look for ways to stop these dumb acts from happening in any neighborhood.”
Going out of town and want to make sure your home is safe? HCSO said residents can fill out a Vacation Watch form to have a deputy patrol the neighborhood. The department said it handled 158 vacation watch requests so far this month, including some in the city limits.
KPRC 2 Investigates has reached back out to Commissioner Garcia’s officer regarding deputies being parked outside of the home over 48 hours after the incident, as well as the messaging regarding the “threat of political violence.”