Texas Police Fatally Shoot Man Accused Of Stabbing Elderly Woman To Death In Store Parking Lot
HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A man who fatally stabbed an elderly woman in the parking lot of a Walgreens in Texas was shot and killed by an officer on Saturday, police said.
The shooting happened after a woman in her 80s was stabbed while returning to her car at around 10 a.m. after shopping, said Houston police Chief Art Acevedo. An officer found the stabbing suspect armed with a knife inside the woman's car and ordered him to get out, Acevedo said.
The officer, a nine-year veteran with the department, opened fire after the suspect lunged at him, Acevedo said. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released.
Police said the elderly woman died at the hospital.
"This is tragic, but the most tragedy here is a woman who has died from a guy who attacked her for no reason other than to steal from her and attempt to carjack her," Acevedo said.
It was the fifth fatal shooting by a Houston police officer within the last month.
Some community activists have called for greater transparency from the Houston Police Department after the recent police shootings.
The activists have called for the creation of an independent police review board with subpoena powers. Currently all police shootings are reviewed by the department and prosecutors.
Acevedo on Saturday defended his agency, saying it selects, trains and retrains "the very best people."
He said the city has seen a nearly 50% increase in homicides so far this year.
"For those that want to focus just on officer involved shootings, I say you need to start focusing on what's going on in our community," Acevedo said. "That's 125 murders with this little old lady. So, where's the outrage for that?"
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
