HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A career law enforcement officer and current Harris County Precinct 1 deputy was injured Monday afternoon following a chaotic shootout with an armed suspect in downtown Houston.
Deputy Sheila Jones with Harris County Precinct 1 was shot in the upper shoulder area. Previously, Jones spent 30 years with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, rising to the rank of major.
According to Assistant Chief Deputy Carl Shaw of Pct. 1 Constable’s Office, the shootout happened about 12:20 p.m., after reports of a man with a weapon walking down 201 Caroline toward the Family Law Center.
At that point, Johari Burnette, a criminal defense attorney, was walking through the area. He heard the commotion, pulled out his phone, and took cover behind a parked car. Burnette captured video of deputies running to the suspect, then a stream of gunfire.
“I was less than 40 feet away,” Burnette said. “My heart dropped, my stomach dropped, I couldn’t believe it. Pow, pow, pow! A shooting in broad daylight outside of the courthouse.”
Veteran defense attorney Rick Detoto captured video of the suspect, who was also shot, being put on a stretcher and transported to the hospital.
“My wife called and told me there was a shooting,” Detoto, who added that another lawyer in his office had to duck behind hedges for cover, said.
Shaw said a deputy spotted the suspect and began chasing him across San Jacinto Street down Congress. That’s when additional deputies arrived, and a shootout began at 1115 Congress, injuring the deputy and the suspect.
Deputy Jones was taken by a patrol unit to St. Joseph Hospital and then transferred to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where the suspect was also taken.
“We will prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said.
At the time of the shooting, Deputy Jones’ son, a courthouse bailiff, was at work nearby in the Criminal Justice Center.
It is unknown at this point exactly how many law enforcement officials fired their weapons. Besides Jones, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed that one of his deputies also opened fire. Several Harris County buildings, including the Jury Assembly building, were hit with gunfire. Miraculously, nobody else was hit.
Jones works primarily in the county attorney’s building, but came rushing out when reports of a man with a weapon walking around the courthouse complex came over police dispatch.
This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.
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