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Suspect charged with capital murder in death of Houston LEO

Arturo Solis told investigators he shot Sgt. Christopher Brewster to avoid being arrested

St. John Barned-Smith and Gwendolyn Wu
Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON — The man accused of killing a Houston police sergeant Saturday night is being held without bond on a capital murder charge.

Arturo Solis, 25, is accused of fatally shooting 32-year-old Sgt. Christopher Brewster during a domestic disturbance call near Magnolia Park in east Houston.

A judge Sunday morning granted a request from Harris County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors that Solis not be granted a bail, citing the brazen nature of the shooting and his lengthy criminal history.

“This offense was committed in a cold cowardly manner, where the defendant shot [Brewster] without provocation of any kind,” senior prosecutor Jim Leitner wrote, in their no-bail request. “The officer was shot without warning before he could even touch his own weapon.”

Brewster responded to a 911 call from Solis’ girlfriend Saturday evening, reporting that Solis was armed with two guns and had assaulted her. The officer arrived to find the woman walking down the street behind Solis. She yelled out “that’s who you are looking for,” pointing to her boyfriend, according to the statement prosecutors read at the hearing.

Brewster called out to get Solis’ attention, but the man “unprovoked raised a handgun with his right hand and fired at him multiple times,” according to prosecutors.

The fatally wounded sergeant fell to the ground, but managed to radio a description of Solis to officers, who found the accused shooter a few blocks away by an elementary school.

Police recovered both guns and the entire incident was captured on Brewster’s body camera.

Solis later told police he knew that Brewster was a cop and had shot him to avoid arrest. He described Brewster as “non-threatening, did not have his weapon drawn, and was waving both hands when he shot him,” wrote Sgt. Richard Bass, an investigator with HPD’s Special Investigations Unit.

Court records show that after police read Solis his “Miranda warnings” — the warning that one has the right not to speak or incriminate themselves — he told officers he should have shot his girlfriend.

First responders flooded the scene. Paramedics performed CPR and rushed Brewster to the hospital, to no avail.

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials are looking into how Solis obtained the two firearms. “We are conducting emergency traces of the firearms and working with HPD to identify the source,” Special Agent Nicole Strong wrote, in an email.

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