Police in Houston, Texas said Monday evening that five officers were injured after trying to issue a narcotics warrant at a residence. None have died. Chief Art Acevedo announced that four officers were shot. Two sustained wounds to the neck and are in surgery, with the other two expected to be hospitalized for at least 24 hours. A fifth officer, who was not shot, sustained a knee injury during the chaos. He is expected to be soon released from the hospital, said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Police originally said that five officers were shot.
Acevedo did not release their names. He described the four as: a 50-year-old sergeant; a 50-year-old; a 33-year-old; and a 54-year-old case agent who had been shot several times before on the line of duty.
The chief said that a dozen narcotics officers and half-dozen patrol officers were attempting to issue a warrant at a residence just before 5 p.m. central time after a neighbor reported possible dealing of black tar heroin. One or two suspects opened fire.
Chief @ArtAcevedo: Officers were serving a narcotics warrant at the home on Harding Street. Police were fired at as soon as entered the home. #khou11
— Brett Buffington (@BrettKHOU) January 29, 2019
It’s unclear how many officers shot back. Asked if there was any friendly fire, Acevedo voiced skepticism and said if there were it would be the ethical and legal responsibility of the drug suspects.
Two suspects have been declared dead. The investigation is ongoing.
SWAT used two different robots to go into the residence.
Two suspects were shot. Both were pronounced deceased.
— St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ (@stjbs) January 29, 2019
[Screengrab via Brett Buffington]
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