Here are things to know for Friday, April 16:
1. Police kill man who opened fire outside San Antonio airport
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A handgun-wielding man who opened fire outside the San Antonio airport was fatally shot by police Thursday, hours after he’d shot at vehicles from a highway overpass in the northern part of the Texas city, officials said.
The city’s airport was placed on lockdown after police got a call around 2:30 p.m. about a car driving the wrong way on a road at the airport, police Chief William McManus said during a news conference. An officer stopped the car at Terminal B and the man jumped out and began shooting, he said.
Police returned fire, hitting the man, McManus said. The man was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
2. Letter lays out case for firing of HPD officer accused of fleeing shooting that killed sergeant
A termination letter obtained Thursday by KPRC 2 Investigates showed a Houston police officer was fired after running away from a shooting that left a sergeant at the scene dead.
“Prayers for the Preston family because this is just going to open this wound back up for them,” said Houston Police Officers’ Union president, Douglas Griffith.
The letter signed by former Houston police Chief Art Acevedo reads Officer Vanessa Taylor was being indefinitely suspended for shirking her duty during the October 2020 shooting that killed Sgt. Harold Preston and for her handling of a domestic violence complaint that led up to the gunfire.
According to the letter, a review board determined that Taylor was in a tactically superior position to the shooter. According to the letter, video from her body-worn camera showed that she ran from the scene of the shooting instead of engaging the shooter when the gunshots started. She hid at the back of the complex and failed to assist her fellow officers who had been wounded by the shooting, according to the letter.
3. Bond set at $300,000 for man accused of kidnapping teen, locking her in Cypress storage unit and sexually assaulting her for days
A man who investigators said kidnapped a teen girl and locked her inside a storage unit for days while sexually assaulting her has been arrested.
Joel Micah Arnold, 34, has been charged with aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault, and trafficking of a child.
" It’s something that’s got to be a nightmare to any family,” said Constable Alan Rosen, of Harris County Precinct 1 Office.
Investigators said the 17-year-old girl made a report of sexual assault to the department’s human trafficking unit on April 8. Investigators said they believe that Arnold kidnapped the girl and took her to a storage facility located in the 19100 block of FM 529 in Cypress. Investigators said the girl was locked inside the unit for five days.
4. Texas House gives initial approval to ‘constitutional carry,’ which would allow people to carry a gun without a license
The Texas House on Thursday gave an initial OK to a bill that would allow handguns to be carried without a permit, marking a win for gun rights activists who have for years pushed the measure at the Legislature but a blow to El Paso Democrats who have been fighting for gun safety measures since the 2019 massacre in their hometown.
The 84-56 vote came after several hours of some of the most emotionally charged debate yet this legislative session, with Democrats pleading to their colleagues to reconsider their position on the legislation.
House Bill 1927, spearheaded by state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, would nix the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if they’re not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a gun. Texans under current state law must generally be licensed to carry handguns, either openly or concealed.
5. Transgender students in Texas would be barred from school sports teams matching their gender identity under a bill advanced by state Senate
Transgender students would be banned from competing on school sports teams based on their gender identity under a bill that received initial approval from the Texas Senate on Wednesday.
Despite immense opposition from civil rights groups and Democrats, the upper chamber voted on a party-line, 18-13 vote to advance Senate Bill 29. The measure needs one more vote before it’s sent to the Texas House.
The proposal would prohibit students from participating in a sport “that is designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex as determined at the student’s birth.” Students would be required to prove their “biological sex” by showing their original, unamended birth certificates.