A deadly shooting unfolded in Texas on Friday when an off-duty Harris County deputy opened fire on a man who allegedly tried to get into his car while his young child sat just feet away.
The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. in Atascocita, approximately 20 miles northeast of downtown Houston. According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the off-duty deputy called 911, reporting that he had someone at gunpoint.
Maj. Ben Katrib explained that the deputy had just placed his child in a car seat when an unknown man, later identified as 27-year-old Darrius Williams, allegedly attempted to enter the deputy’s vehicle. Despite multiple verbal commands from the deputy, Williams is said to have ignored the warnings and opened the passenger door of the car.
At that point, the deputy opened fire, hitting Williams multiple times. First responders arrived on the scene and provided aid, but Williams was later pronounced dead at the hospital, FOX 26 Houston reported.
Officials confirmed that the deputy, whose identity has not been publicly released, and his child are both safe. It remains unclear whether Williams was armed at the time of the alleged intrusion or how many times he was shot.
Williams’ mother, Tieneeshia Williams, said her son had been released from jail the previous night and was struggling with mental health issues. “Last night they picked him up for walking into oncoming traffic and ran his name. So he had a warrant for failure to appear from the last episode,” she said.
She added, “The officer called me when she was there with him on the scene and asked me a lot of questions, and I said, ‘Ma’am, why don’t you just take him to the psychiatric ward? He’s walking into traffic.’ She said, ‘Oh no, we’re going to deal with this warrant, he’s going to jail.’”
Sources told FOX 26 that ring camera video footage may have captured the incident.
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