Officer shoots man at NW Houston apartment

By MIKE GLENN

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Sept. 17, 2009, 9:42PM

A Houston police narcotics officer shot and wounded a man who lunged for the policeman's weapon Thursday inside a northwest-side apartment complex, authorities said.

The shooting happened about 4:30 p.m. while police were serving a search and arrest warrant at the home in the 4200 block of Sherwood Lane.

Officer M. Baccus repeatedly identified himself as a police officer after the investigators forced their way into the apartment, officials said.

“He gave the three people he could immediately see verbal commands to get down on the floor, which they did,“ said Kese Smith, a Houston police spokesman.

Baccus continued down a narrow hallway when a man tried to grab his weapon, officials said.

“The officer, fearing for his life, fired one time, striking the suspect in the abdomen," Smith said.

The wounded man — believed to have been the target of the arrest — was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, officials said.

Baccus, a 15-year veteran assigned to HPD's narcotics division, was not hurt.

Smith said he could not confirm if drugs were found in the home. A search will begin after the shooting is investigated by Houston police and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

mike.glenn@chron.com