Colleagues and coworkers were distraught, some in disbelief Tuesday when a Harris County corporal was murdered in broad daylight while stopped at a light on his commute to work.
Cpl. Maher Husseini was shot multiple times while driving his personal SUV. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Among those coming to terms with Husseini’s shocking murder are members of local law enforcement, who lost one of their own.
On Wednesday, KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun spoke with Sgt. James Martinez, Husseini’s direct supervisor at Harris County Precinct 4.
Martinez, who was wearing a patch to memorialize the fallen officer, first met Husseini in 2021, when Husseini was assigned to Martinez’s chain of command while training to be a field training officer.
He recalled Husseini’s positive, can-do attitude and his willingness to reach out to locals in his district and make sure their needs were being met. His commitment to his constituents led to him being promoted from deputy to corporal just one month ago.
“[Husseini was] very, very helpful, very, very friendly,” Martinez said. “[He] always had a smile on his face, no matter what kind of day it was. If it was raining, sunshine, he always walked in and told everybody hi. One thing that Husseini had more than anybody else was a way of actually communicating with individuals, even complete strangers.”
Tuesday, Martinez was at home when he received a phone call from another corporal reporting that Husseini had been shot.
Martinez thought about trying to call Husseini, or even go out to the scene and see if he could help, but as the time ticked by, the reality and gravity of the situation began to set in.
“I was kind of in shock, awe, disbelief,” Martinez said. “I said, ‘You can’t be right. It can’t be Cpl. Husseini. There’s no way.’”
Martinez said he has spoken to a few other deputies who worked directly with Husseini. He described the mood among his coworkers as “very distraught.” He told them to take time off to process their emotions and offered his phone number if they needed someone to talk to.
Martinez was emotional describing the way the tragedy has impacted his station.
“Something like this hits us close to home, for sure,” he said. “Especially at this station, because we work so close together. I can say, I watch this guy come through the door, every day at 2 o’clock. Now he’s not here no more.”
Athir Murady, the man suspected of murdering Husseini, was captured in Galveston about five hours after the shooting. Murady was being moved from the hospital to the Galveston County jail Tuesday evening and then expected to be extradited to Harris County to face charges for the murder.