Off-duty Texas trooper shoots neighbor through closed door, fearing he was intruder: cops
An off-duty Texas state trooper shot a neighbor through his closed apartment door when he mistook the man for an intruder, according to cops.
The trooper, whom authorities have declined to name, thought “someone was trying to break into his apartment,” so he “discharged his weapon” just after midnight Monday, Assistant Houston Police Chief Yasar Bashir said.
“We don’t know why he was at that apartment, but the initial assessment is that [the] trooper believed he was trying to break in.”
The trooper claims he gave the man several warnings to “get away” before he shot him, Bashir said.
The two men live one floor apart in units that share the last two numbers at an apartment complex just across the street from the Astros’ Minute Maid Park, according to ABC 13.
The floors look identical, and access is controlled by a key fob, the outlet said. Each unit also has two locks for added security.
The victim, only identified as a black man in his mid-30s, reportedly ran down the hallway until police officers caught up with him on his own floor, Bashir said.
Officers found him with a gunshot wound in his shoulder, and applied two tourniquets.
He was transported to a local hospital, where he is expected to survive.
Following the shooting, some neighbors questioned the judgment of the trooper who fired blindly through the door, while others said they understood the fear of someone trying to break in.
“I don’t know how I feel about [the shooting],” one neighbor told FOX 26 Houston. “I guess I would want to know who was outside and what was going on — maybe he felt threatened.”
Tadd Ledet, who said he knows the victim personally, also questioned why the interaction ended with a shooting “especially from a cop who is supposed to protect you.”
Investigators are working to determine whether the neighbor was impaired in any way, as a spokesperson for Finger Companies — which owns the apartment complex — said they believe the resident mistook the trooper’s apartment for his own.
A grand jury is also expected to determine whether the trooper should be indicted for the shooting.
“[The trooper] will have to pass the test of ‘Were you in fear [for] your life? Why did you not call 911? Why did you not call for backup? Why did you not sit in your apartment while police responded,’” Tony Leal, a retired chief of the Texas Rangers, explained to ABC 13.
The Houston Police Department and Texas Rangers are leading the investigation.
