By Jay R. Jordan
Houston Chronicle
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A deputy constable was shot while responding to a domestic disturbance in north Harris County early Tuesday morning.
The Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office deputy was with his partner at the Cranbrook Forest Apartments in the 13800 block of Ella Boulevard shortly after midnight, the second time police were summoned for a disturbance in a matter of hours. Details of the disturbance were not immediately available.
Deputies approached the door and spoke with a man inside the apartment, Harris County Sheriff’s Office senior deputy Thomas Gilliland said.
That conversation devolved into a physical fight, which is when the man pulled a handgun and shot one of the deputies in the stomach, Gilliland said.
“I have a gunshot wound to the abdomen,” the deputy said, according to police radio traffic. “Y’all need to get a f***ing ambulance here.”
The two deputies returned fire as the man retreated into the apartment, Gilliland said. Paramedics took the wounded deputy to Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, where he underwent surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
Heavily armed SWAT officers surrounded the apartment as negotiators tried pleading with the man to come out. They eventually broke down the front door and sent in a special robot equipped with a camera, which found the man dead inside the apartment.
Gilliland said investigators believe one of the deputies shot the man as they returned fire.
The man who died suffered from some mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, Gilliland said.
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