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Officers Fatally Shoot Man After Standoff

POSTED: 11:51 am CDT July 31, 2007

UPDATED: 4:18 pm CDT July 31, 2007

HOUSTON -- A man threatening to kill himself was shot and killed by police after a standoff on a southeast Houston street on Tuesday, KPRC Local 2.

Houston police said they received a 911 call about a man with a gun on Mowery Road near Duane Street at about 9:30 a.m. The caller said the man was standing in the middle of the neighborhood behaving erratically.

"It was reported that a male had a weapon, wanting to kill himself or wanting officers to kill him," said Capt. Bruce Williams with the Houston Police Department.

Officers found Reginald Jones, 20, waving a handgun and holding a Bible. They said he asked for music and media coverage.

Police said an officer with crisis training tried to talk Jones into surrendering.

"At some point and time, the suspect was convinced to lay his weapon down. And, for some reason unknown to us at this time, the suspect reacquired his weapon and pointed it at one of the officers," Williams said.

Williams said another officer fired at Jones, who fell back into a ditch, reached for his gun and fired one shot. Jones was hit multiple times by gunfire.

"I was looking through binoculars," witness Michael Grant said. "We seen the gun when they shot him. The gun fell out of his hand. I don't know what all the extra, all of the extra shots, I don't know what that was all for. I think they murdered the man. That was unnecessary what they did. They shot over 30, 40 times and he was already on the ground."

"Why didn't someone do something other than just to start shooting?" cousin Cassandra Carpenter said.

Jones was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.

Family members said Jones was depressed and may have been on drugs.

Community activist Quanell X said the outcome could have been avoided.

"The first police officer did a great job in talking to this young man at this particular scene today. But he did not have the time that he needed because SWAT team responded with their shoot-to-kill mentality," Quanell X said.

Houston police will investigate how many officers fired their weapons, how many shots were fired, and how many times Jones fired his gun.

Jones is survived by a 2-year-old daughter.