Paper: Houston Chronicle

Date: Sun 06/29/2008

Section: B Page: 3 Edition: 3 STAR R.O.

Officer shoots, kills man after a brief car pursuit / Police say he was reportedly linked to an earlier domestic dispute

By ANITA HASSAN

STAFF

A police officer shot and killed a man allegedly involved in a domestic disturbance after a short chase in northeast Houston early Saturday, authorities said.

A woman told officers responding to a call made from a gas station at about 1:25 a.m that she had been the victim of domestic abuse, said Houston Police Department spokesman Gabe Ortiz.

While officers were interviewing the woman at the station at Lockwood and Cavalcade, Ortiz said the suspect drove by. He refused to stop when officers attempted to pull him over and led police on a short chase, Ortiz said.

The chase ended in the 5100 block of Dabney, where the man lost control of his vehicle, drove through some barricades and into a bayou, Ortiz said.

As the man exited the vehicle, officer Joseph Babineaux shined a flashlight on him and noticed he had a firearm, Ortiz said.

Babineaux ordered the man to drop the weapon. But instead, the suspect turned toward the officer, Ortiz said. Babineaux took cover behind the raised embankment of the bayou and fired at the suspect, Ortiz said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity is being withheld pending an autopsy by the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office.

Babineaux, who has been with the department for two years and is assigned to the northeast patrol division, will be placed on desk duty for at least three days, Ortiz said.

As is customary in all officer-involved shootings, the case will be investigated by the HPD homicide division, internal affairs division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

 

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