Officer shoots man wielding butcher knife

Early morning shooting happens on Woodchase in SW Houston

By DALE LEZON

Copyright 2010 HOUSTON CHRONICLE

April 15, 2010, 7:24PM

Officer shoots man with knife

An officer shot and wounded a man who held a butcher knife to his girlfriend's throat and then appeared to threaten the lawman with it Thursday, police said.

A Houston police officer shot and wounded a man today who held a butcher knife to his wife's throat and then appeared to threaten the lawman with it, officials said.

“It looks as if our officer got there in the nick of time,” said John Cannon, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.

The man, Ayinde Ekundayo Jordan, was charged with interference with 911 emergency calls in the incident at the couple's home at the Aberdeen Apartment Homes in the 3400 block of Woodchase. Police said he took the woman's cell phone to prevent her from calling 911.

Jordan suffered a gunshot wound to his right hip, officials said. He was treated at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital and released.

The officer, Tony Tomeo, a 13-year veteran, and the woman were not injured. The woman's name has not been released.

Tomeo was dispatched to the southwest Houston complex at about 3:40 a.m. after the couple's neighbor called police to report that the pair was arguing loudly, Cannon said.

When Tomeo arrived, he saw the woman through the apartment window and heard her screaming, “Get off of me! Get off of me!”

Then he opened the door, which was unlocked, and saw the man holding the knife to the woman's neck. He ordered the man several times to drop the knife, but the man refused.

Then the man moved away from the woman and crouched holding the knife. Tomeo again ordered him to drop the weapon, but again the man refused and he moved toward the officer with it.

Then Tomeo, fearing for his safety, fired once, grazing the man in his lower right side, police said.

Cannon said investigators don't know what sparked the argument. The couple had recently moved to the apartment, which did not appear to be furnished.

As is customary in officer-involved shootings in Houston, HPD Homicide and Internal Affairs divisions as well as the Harris County District Attorney's Office will investigate the case.

 

dale.lezon@chron.com