HOUSTON – A push for justice in the death of Walter Cooper, a 71-year-old man who was hit and killed by HPD officers in a patrol vehicle in northeast Houston. The family is looking for someone to be held accountable.
On Sunday, the family held a rally calling for justice and change. Dozens of people held signs demanding justice. Cooper’s children and the family attorney prayed and spoke about Cooper, an Army veteran and grandfather.
READ: Driver killed, 2 HPD officers injured in crash in northeast Houston
On November 24, Cooper was pulling off Darien Street onto Ley Road when an HPD police unit hit his car causing it to spin across the street and land in the grass. He was taken to the hospital where he died. Surveillance video from a food store caught the crash on camera.
The family is seeking justice. They want changes in policing policies and tactics such as riding without sirens and driving double or triple the speed limit without regard for human life. The family also wants to improve city infrastructure by adding speed bumps, traffic signals and signs in communities.
“We live in a society where some injustices are truly being made legal so we want his life to be accounted for. We want the officer to be reprimanded because we know that if the roles were reversed if it was my father that was driving down this street at an ungodly rate of speed we know right now he would be locked up. He would not be allowed to roam the streets free,” Reverend Lawrence Cooper said.
The family says it’s already been a tough year. They lost their mom to breast cancer in August.
The family attorney told KPRC 2 they’re in the process of filing a “wrongful death” lawsuit.