Wounded Officer Remains Critical

Suspect Killed In Shootout

POSTED: Friday, March 6, 2009

UPDATED: 5:15 pm CST March 6, 2009

HOUSTON -- A Houston police undercover officer remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday after being shot in the face during a drug raid and shootout in southeast Houston that left a drug suspect dead, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The shootings happened in the 9300 block of East Avenue O at about 9 p.m. Thursday when narcotics officers were executing a felony search warrant.

Police said the suspect had an elaborate surveillance system with a big-screen TV that could monitor several cameras. As soon as the first officer, Rick L. Salter, stepped into the house, the suspect shot him in the jaw, detectives said.

Investigators said at least three officers, M.D. Sinegal, C.R. Cantu and B.K. McCord, returned fire, killing the suspect. His name has not been released.

Salter, 54, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital with a bullet lodged in his jaw. His family asked that his condition not be officially released, but he just underwent a second procedure and remained in critical condition, the station reported.

Fellow officers stopped by Ben Taub Hospital to check on their friend.

"A good officer, loves being a narcotics officer, always. He's a top-notch officer," said Gary Blankinship with the Houston Police Officer's Union.

Mayor Bill White visited the officer at Ben Taub Hospital on Friday morning.

"When I got that call, obviously, I thought the worst and when I came here, well, I see an officer up there who's -- when I talked to him and when others talked to him, he seemed -- the heart rate went up and you saw some motion, so I'm optimistic and pessimistic and know it's in God's hands and not ours," White said.

A woman who claimed to be the suspect's sister-in-law said she didn't know anything about drugs being in the home. She identified the suspect as Joel Alfaro.

"I don't understand why they're saying narcotics, I don't know nothing about that," Olivia Aviles said. "I'm (the suspect's wife's) sister. I would know something. It doesn't make sense to me."

Relatives said the home had been broken into before and Alfaro was probably just protecting his two children.

"I knew the surveillance was hooked up to the front TV and it was just for security purposes to protect his family," a neighbor said.

Investigators said a 5-year-old boy and a 5-month-old boy were inside the home at the time of the shooting. They were not injured. Their relationship to the suspect is not yet known. They are now with their mother.

Police did not say if narcotics were found inside the home.

Salter has been with the department for 27 years, about half of that time has been spent in narcotics. He is married with two college-aged children.

HPD said the case is being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office, as is customary in officer-involved shootings.

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