Several Officer-Involved Shootings In Houston Has Activists Calling For The Release Of Body Cam Video
Community activists are calling on Houston police to release body cam footage from numerous recent officer-involved shootings.
Six people have been shot and killed by the Houston Police Department between April 21 and May 25.
Community members say they’re not getting transparency from Houston police even after the department’s Chief Art Acevedo promised answers.
"We pay for those body cams," Shelby Stewart, a civil rights activist, said, according to ABC13. "We pay for those vehicles and we pay for Chief Acevedo's salary. What's on those cameras deserves to be seen by the public. That should be our right."
"I am not saying that every single shooting is incorrect," civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen told the news station. "As a matter of fact, it looks like maybe one or two were correct. However, it is up to the public. The public must be able to see what the officers are doing, and we have to see each and every one of them."
Chief Acevedo says he has no plans to release body camera video at the moment out of respect for the families who have lost loved ones from the shootings. He also claimed that in the event that criminal charges are brought on any of his officers, he doesn’t want to have a trial moved out of Harris County.
"We have a responsibility to the family," Chief Acevedo said, according to ABC13, after gospel singer Adrian Medearis was killed by police.
"What makes you think that the family wants this to be the last thing in public? Their loved one, who's a church-going, God-fearing man, gets for whatever reason, we don't know what happened? I want that family to have a say in what they want. And I would say that they need to see it first before anybody else out here in the public sees it."
Below is a breakdown of the six officer-involved shootings that have taken place in Houston since April 21.
April 21
HPD officers shot and killed a 27-year-old man they say charged at them and was suicidal. Officers say they tried to calm him down, but he didn’t listen, so they used a taser on him twice.
They also claimed they fired bean bags to knock him down. Investigators say that after the man charged at officers, they fired at and killed him.
April 27
An unidentified man was shot during a confrontation with police in east Houston. It’s still unclear whether officers shot and killed the man or if he shot himself. Authorities claim the man called 911 and could be heard shooting a gun while saying, "I'm reloading my piece, and I'm ready for y'all."
When police arrived, they say the man came out of the house and started firing randomly. Acevedo told ABC13 that after an hour-long standoff with officers, and numerous attempts to get him to try and drop his gun, police believed the man was shooting at them, so they fired back. The man was pronounced dead at the house.
May 8
HPD shot and killed 48-year-old Adrian Medearis during a traffic stop. They claim the man was driving more than 90 mph at around 1:05 a.m., and when they attempted to arrest him, a struggle broke out.
Officials say during the altercation Medearis got his hands on an officer’s taser after they tried to deploy it. They then fired four rounds, hitting Medearis at least twice.
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May 14
A 30-year-old man believed to have a handgun when he was fatally shot by a police officer turned out to be holding a BB gun.
Police were called after reports of a suspicious person brandishing what they believed was a firearm. Acevedo said the man made a move for his weapon before an officer shot him several times. The man later died at the hospital.
May 16
A man accused of stabbing a woman to death in a southwest Houston parking lot was later shot by a police officer.
According to Acevedo, 80-year-old Rosalie Cook was stabbed in the chest outside of her car after shopping at a Walgreens. A police officer arrived a short time later and found a man inside the victim’s car, trying to start it. After the man refused commands and charged at the responding officer while carrying a knife, two shots were fired.
The man was later identified as Randy Lewis. He died at the scene.
May 25
A man was killed in an officer-involved shooting after he allegedly pointed a gun at officers on Houston's south side. HPD say they responded at around 1:27 a.m. after receiving an urgent call about an emotional man who had been drinking and holding a gun.
After arriving, officers saw a 38-year-old man with a gun. They claim they gave him commands to drop the gun, but the suspect didn’t respond. The man reportedly pointed his gun in the direction of the officers, who then fired shots at him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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