HOUSTON – An off-duty officer who was reportedly stabbed in front of a Subway store in southeast Houston on Wednesday night is now recovering at home.
It happened around 7:55 p.m. in the 6100 block of Telephone Road.
Nate Williams, an off-duty officer with the Surfside Beach Police Department, said he entered a Subway to get something to eat and noticed a man exposing himself to patrons and employees, and attempted to escort the suspect out.
“There was a little girl standing right in front of him, looking at him, and her mother turned around and saw what she was looking at and she grabbed her daughter and started shielding the daughter’s eyes and that’s when I got angry and I intervened,” said Williams.
Williams said a physical altercation ensued and the man stabbed him twice in the leg.
“I just started talking to God, preparing myself for death,” said Williams.
Investigators said the suspect, described by police only as a white male, fled the scene in a silver, four-door hatchback.
Officers with the Houston Police Department arrived and applied a tourniquet to the wounded officer’s leg before Houston Fire Department officials arrived.
Not all hero’s wear capes, but many do bear scars. This is Nate Williams, a true hero and one of YOUR Surfside Beach...
Posted by Surfside Beach Police Department on Thursday, March 31, 2022
Investigators said Williams was transported to a nearby trauma center. He was released from the hospital around 5:30 a.m. Thursday and is at home resting, according to HPD.
In a Facebook post from Surfside Police Department, they said Williams acted “with honor, bravery, and valor.”
“I don’t consider myself a hero, I just did what any police officer would do,” Williams said.
Police said the suspect still has not been found.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact the HPD Major Assaults and Family Violence Division at (713) 308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.