HOUSTON – Detectives are investigating an officer-involved shooting after a suspect led police on a chase.
Officials said it began around 3:15 a.m. Tuesday in northwest Houston. METRO police said they spotted a suspect driving erratically in a white pickup truck near North Shepherd and the North Freeway. Police said when they attempted to pull the man over, he drove off and a chase began.
"The chase went down the North Freeway," said Victor Centies, an HPD spokesman.
During the 15-minute chase, METRO said the suspect hit several parked cars and then crashed into a ditch on Carver near Garapan.
Officer Robert Smith said he saw the suspect reach for a black object and heard a gunshot. Officer Smith then fired his weapon at the suspect, who fled on foot and jumped over a fence, officials said. He was caught a short time later.
"(Smith) hears a noise which he believes to be a gunshot, and obviously concerned for his own safety, he discharges his weapon at least one time," Centies said.
The suspect was not injured. He will be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.