HOUSTON – A teenager was sent to the hospital Thursday night after getting into a brief gunfight with Houston police.
It happened a little before 9:45 p.m. when HPD Chief Noe Diaz said during a news conference, that officers saw what they believed to be a hand-to-hand drug deal on Liberty Road off the Eastex Freeway.
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When the cops in their patrol car came up to the two young men, Chief Diaz said they started walking away. Police got out of their car and told them to stop, but they started walking away faster, and that’s when one of the officers reportedly noticed a gun in one of the young men’s waistbands.
One of the officers was able to grab and detain the armed young man, identified only as a teenager between 15 and 16-years-old. After a brief struggle, Chief Diaz said the teen got away and while running, turned and shot at the officers. Chief Diaz said his officers fired back, hitting the teen twice in the “upper torso.”
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The other person seen in the drug deal managed to escape while officers tended to the teenager’s wounds and secured his weapon. Police were unable to share a description, as of this writing.
Per HPD policy, Chief Diaz said the officer, an 8-year veteran, will be placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted and body-camera footage is reviewed.