Police shot and killed an armed man, who was accused of sexually abusing a child, at a Spring Branch dog daycare facility Monday night, according to Chief Noe Diaz.
The shooting took place around 9:30 p.m. at Peace Love Dogs on Yupondale Drive. The man was under investigation for alleged indecency with a child with sexual contact, Diaz said. Two officers entered the premises with a police dog, according to the Houston Police Department. They told the man several times to drop his weapon and shot him when he motioned to injure the dog upon its release, Diaz said.
“Unfortunately today, an easy decision that he could have made to give up and come out and face the consequences of the crime that he committed, he chose a different route,” Diaz said at a press briefing Monday night.
Police attempted to render medical aid, but the man succumbed to his injuries, Diaz said. The canine was OK, he added.
HPD has not named the suspect, and it’s unclear what kind of weapon he displayed before the shooting. He made multiple attempts to escape the area and tried jumping a back fence but remained on the property, according to Diaz. He said the suspect’s criminal history included a DWI and an assault of a family member.
Other employees were inside the business at the time, and the manager asked them to leave as police “worked through this process,” Diaz said. He said police will release body-worn camera footage within 30 days, and there was also surveillance footage inside the business. Camera footage captured the suspect saying “he was not going to go back to jail or to prison,” Diaz said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office and HPD’s internal affairs and homicide divisions will each investigate the shooting, according to Diaz. Diaz said he believes the two officers involved in the shooting each have less than five years of experience.
Diaz said the suspect had been outside of Houston “for some time,” but his HPD warrant appeared when he returned from north Texas.
“We’re always trying catch these real bad guys to remove them out of our community,” Diaz said.
This story will be updated.