HOUSTON – Houston police released footage on Friday from a February officer-involved shooting in a north Houston parking lot.
The shooting happened near Greenspoint Mall around 1 p.m. in the 12300 block of North Freeway.
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No one was hurt in the shooting in which one officer -- A. Lopez -- fired his gun. Lopez was sworn in as an HPD officer in March 2017 and is assigned to the North Belt Patrol Division, police said in its news release about the shooting.
In the video released by Houston police, graphic language is heard. Raymont Pierre -- the 19-year-old man who was being served felony warrants of aggravated assault and criminal mischief -- can be heard saying as he is placed in handcuffs, “Bro, I’m shooting a video.”
As of the first writing by KPRC 2, HPD said officers with HPD’s Crime Suppression team were conducting a long-term investigation on Glock switches -- a part that transforms a handgun into an automatic machine gun. Police said they received information that a 19-year-old man with a felony warrant out of Beaumont was allegedly armed inside Greenspoint Mall.
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Police said they were able to surround his white Nissan Altima, and when officers saw him leaving the mall, they ordered him to show his hands.
Police said initially that the man “manipulated” his gun, and that was when police said one of the officers fired once.
The suspect was not struck. Police said he complied with verbal commands and was taken into custody.
A gun police described at the time as a “Glock handgun with an auto sear device with extended magazine” was recovered at the scene.
Officers discovered two people were inside the suspect’s vehicle.
Police said Pierre has a lengthy criminal history, including previous arrests for evading officers. Pierre is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, Houston police said in its latest news release.
Police said Lopez had been placed on administrative leave as is customary pending the outcome of the investigation. It’s unclear at this time whether Lopez remains on administrative leave. KPRC 2 has reached out for more information on his status.
In the latest news release from HPD, detectives shared this statement about the incident: “Officers knew Pierre was possibly in possession of a weapon and used a vehicle containment technique to prevent him from fleeing. Officers gave Pierre voice commands to which he responded by opening the car door, bending down, and making furtive movements. Officer Lopez discharged his duty weapon, striking the driver’s side door frame. At that time, Pierre exited the vehicle and was taken into custody without further incident. A semi-automatic pistol was located on the driver’s side floorboard. Two additional occupants inside the vehicle were detained and later released. They were not injured in this incident. As is customary in HPD officer-involved shooting incidents that occur inside the Houston city limits, this case is being investigated by the HPD Special Investigations Unit and Internal Affairs Division.”