HOUSTON – We’re now a little more than a week into the new month, yet there have already been a handful of shootings involving law enforcement officials in the Greater Houston area.
May started with a late-night chase involving a stolen SUV. After the driver, later identified by Houston police as Tony Underwood, crashed the car, investigators said he pulled out a gun, cocked it and two officers shot him as a result.
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Underwood’s family members, however, have repeatedly disputed HPD’s claims to KPRC 2.
RELATED: Family questions Houston PD’s account of officer’s shooting man during stolen SUV chase | Family of man shot by Houston police seeks answers at HPD headquarters
Over the weekend, a security guard was also shot by a suspected burglar in River Oaks.
This week alone, though, we’ve reported at least 4 shootings involving officers outside HPD, starting with a man in his car at a clinic in northwest Harris County on Monday, who refused to leave.
MORE: Knife-wielding man shot, killed by deputies outside clinic in NW Harris County
Once deputies were able to get the man out of his car, officials said he was holding a large butcher knife, prompting two responding officers to shoot him. He died at the scene.
Then Sugar Land PD reported one of its officers shooting a man Tuesday evening during a confrontation, after he was firing gunshots into the ground.
RELATED: Man firing gunshots into the ground shot by police in Sugar Land
And on Wednesday, Chief Diaz said his officers shot a man on the southwest side armed with a rifle while donning a bulletproof vest.
MORE: Man wearing bulletproof vest, helmet shot by Houston officers after brief chase on southwest side
None of the officers were injured, and at last check, the shooter is expected to survive.
Now entering early Thursday morning, Harris Co. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and his officers are investigating a deadly shooting involving an off-duty officer with the San Jacinto Police Department who killed one of two men in his backyard.
DEVELOPING STORY: Off-duty officer shoots 2 men in his NE Harris County backyard, killing one of them
It’s unclear what happened before the shooting, but in a post on X, the sheriff said, “It’s possible the wounded males may have entered the officer’s backyard while fleeing the scene of the initial drive-by shooting, but details have yet to be confirmed.”