Carjacking suspect shot by HPD officer

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston police officer shot and wounded a man near the Houston Police Department headquarters last night. Investigators say she interrupted a carjacking.

It happened just after 7:30pm. A man who had contracted a Ford Taurus was filling out paperwork in the driver's seat when a man approached and may have asked for directions. The driver opened his door and the suspect began yelling and appeared to have cloth covering his hand. He was able to get into the Taurus.

The motorist called for help and security officer Ha Crawford appeared with her gun drawn running out of the headquarters. The suspect got out of the vehicle, but didn't comply with her commands to lie on the ground and show his hands. Instead, he approached her and she fired as she was stepping back into traffic.

"He decides he's going to get out of the car. He starts going down the officer's direction, down the sidewalk and he's moving his hands all about his body and his waistband and his pockets," said HPD spokesman John Cannon. "She can't tell if he was going to be reaching for a weapon or not. He starts charging at her. She backs up and she retreats as far as she can go into a moving lane of traffic and at that time, he was about 3 to 5 feet away and she fires one time, in fear of her life."

The suspect was reportedly hit in the abdomen and rushed to Ben Taub Hospital where he remains in critical, but stable condition.

No weapon was found on the suspect. Neither the officer nor the carjacking victim was injured.

Meantime, Crawford will be assigned to desk duty as is HPD protocol.

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local, mark garay

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