Video: Officer Shoots Teenage Girl After Chase

Girl Shot By Police Officer On 18th Birthday

POSTED: 6:53 am CDT August 14, 2007

UPDATED: 3:45 pm CDT August 14, 2007

HOUSTON -- A police officer shot a teenage girl at a northeast Houston apartment complex on her 18th birthday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Houston police said an officer tried to stop Brittanee King on suspicion of a traffic violation at about 1:50 a.m. Tuesday. King refused to pull over, officials said. The officer said he saw a male passenger in the car drop something out of the window during a short pursuit.

Investigators the passenger opened his door during the pursuit, as if he was going to attempt to bail out. He ended up staying in the car until the chase ended at the Settegast Heights Village Apartments on North Wayside Drive near Ley Road, where he jumped out of the car and ran.

Officers said they gave King verbal commands, but she did not comply.

"(She made) a lot of erratic movements inside the vehicle," Officer Michelle Sandoval said. "He was unsure what she was trying to do. He kept giving her verbal commands. At that time, her door flew open and he saw something shiny in her hands and she made a move toward the officer. At that time, he fired one time and shot her in the hand."

King was transported to Ben Taub Hospital in stable condition. Officers caught up with her passenger and took him into custody. His identity was not released.

King's mother said she was upset that she was not able to find out anything about her daughter before information was released to the media.

"I was very upset because everywhere I went nobody would talk to me," Mercedes Lee said. "I'm her parent and I feel like the least thing they could have done was pull me to the side and say what this, that and that and, 'We'll get in touch with you.'"

Lee said the shiny object the officer saw was probably a piece of jewelry.

"They keep saying it's a shiny object that they saw, which the shining object I'm quite sure as her bracelet," Lee said. "She always had bracelets on both arms."

No charges have been filed against King or her passenger.

Investigators said the officer who shot King has been with the Houston Police Department since April. His name has not been released.

 

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