HPD officers shoot, kill schizophrenic

10:50 AM CDT on Monday, July 23, 2007

By Rucks Russell / 11 News

Rucks Russell's 11 News report

What began as a domestic dispute ended in death for Steven Guillory Saturday night.

Guillory was shot and killed by Houston police officers after a confrontation at his mother’s home.

While the HPD says the officers had no choice but to open fire, Guillory’s family members are outraged.

“I could have talked him back in the yard, but they wouldn’t let me go anywhere near him,” Joyce Guillory said. “I said, if you got to shot him, shoot him in the leg. But they didn’t listen to me. They shot him anyway.”

Family members say Steven Guillory was a paranoid schizophrenic who spent much of his 39 years in and out of treatment.

Joyce Guillory was forced to call the police to her home in southeast Houston after her son threatened her with a knife – a call activist Quannel X says she’s made many times in the past.

“Why is it they did not call for a critical response team immediately, when it came up on their computer they were coming back to the address of a known paranoid schizophrenic,” Quannel X said.

Officers responding to the scene said they found Guillory in the front yard, armed with a large metal pipe and looking agitated. They said he threatened them with the weapon and beat a squad car with it, busting the lights and windows.

Officers repeatedly tried to calm Guillory, to no effect. Guillory then lunged at the officers again with the pipe, prompting one of them to fire a Taser. The Taser did nothing. “He then aggressively lunged toward the second responding officers, and that’s when, fearing for their lives, they shot the suspect,” Capt. Bruce Williams said.

One officer was slightly injured by a bouncing bullet, but Guillory’s injuries would prove fatal.

The HPD issued a statement late Sunday on the incident, promising to commit all necessary resources to investigate Guillory’s death.

“This is a tragic event for the family, community and the Houston Police Department. The Houston Police Department has a great deal of sympathy for the Guillory family in their time of grief,” the statement read.

HPD said that the incident highlights the need for more mental health officials and professional help prior to police involvement.

They said the incident didn’t offer the opportunity to call in the crisis intervention team.

“The Houston Police Department places the highest value on the preservation of life. We place no less value on the lives of officers who have to respond to these tragic events,” the statement read.

This is a picture of the damage police say Guillory did to their car.The HPD is conducting an internal investigation, but for the Guillorys, the evidence is already in.

"That was a wrongful death," Joyce Guillory said.

They’ve erected a makeshift memorial for Steven near their home – a cry they say for answers and for justice.