By Mike Glenn
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — An Humble man is questioning the shooting of his sibling by Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies, saying he had warned deputies that his brother was holding a toy gun and wanted to be killed.
“They didn’t want to hear it. They just wanted to come in - gung ho,” said Nader Khalaf, whose brother, Amjed Khalaf, 37, was shot by deputies about 9:15 p.m. Sunday at the family’s home in the 6700 block of Village Bridge. Amjed Khalaf was in critical condition Monday night at Memorial Hermann Hospital, his brother said.
The shooting late Sunday was one of at least four such incidents since late Friday when Houston police and Harris County sheriff’s deputies opened fire at suspects. In one case, an HPD officer fatally shot a man during a gunbattle at a home in northeast Houston.
The shootings follow a year of deadly force by Harris County police agencies, according to an analysis by the Houston Chronicle. In 2009, shootings by officers reached the highest level in nearly 20 years, with 60 civilians being shot - 27 of whom were killed.
Based on the last five years of police reports, the figure is nearly twice the annual average in the greater Houston and Harris County area.
In Sunday’s shooting, sheriff’s officials said deputies came to the house to serve an arrest warrant against Amjed Khalaf for assaulting an officer on Friday.
They said a resident at the home told them his brother had no intention of going to jail.
“The suspect came down the stairs aggressively with a weapon in his hands. The deputy felt that his life was in danger and fired multiple shots,” Deputy Janie Alvarez-Wagner said.
Nader Khalaf, 36, said he was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car when he and other family members told deputies that his brother’s gun wasn’t real and he had a death wish.
“I told them there are no weapons in the house. He’s got a plastic gun,” Khalaf said. “He’s trying to commit suicide. They didn’t want to hear what I had to say.”
Khalaf said his brother has a history of drug use and is bipolar.
“I told them right away that he wasn’t taking his medicine,” Khalaf said.
Khalaf was sitting in the back seat of a patrol car, his hands cuffed behind him, for about two minutes when he heard a message over the radio about a shooting and a call for a Life Flight helicopter. Khalaf said the deputies gave his address over the radio for the medical help.
Refused commands
Deputies said Amjed Khalaf was shot only after he refused several commands to drop the weapon.
His brother said deputies should have tried to coax him out peacefully and not immediately resorted to force.
“It should have been handled totally different.’'
The latest officer-involved shooting occurred about 2:45 a.m. Monday when a pair of off-duty HPD officers opened fire at a gun-wielding man at a nightclub in the 11400 block of the North Freeway.
HPD investigators said officers F. Briones and J. Estrada were clearing patrons from the parking lot at Club Amazonia when they saw a man pointing a shotgun at another person.
When he refused their commands to drop the weapon, the officers opened fire to protect the other person, HPD officials said.
The gunman, who has not been identified, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital in serious condition.
The fatal shooting happened about 9:30 p.m. Friday when HPD narcotics officers tried to serve a search warrant at a home in the 6700 block of Letcher.
Police said one of the people inside the house grabbed a shotgun and demanded officers “come and get him.”
Police said HPD officer R. Massey, fearing for his life, immediately discharged his weapon. The man returned fire and died at the scene from the exchange, police said.
Sheriff’s officials said two deputies working off-duty security at the Green Tree Place apartments in the 700 block of Dunson Glen fired at a pair of armed men about 10:45 p.m. Sunday after they heard gunfire in the area.
The deputies saw two men running toward them and ordered them to stop, Alvarez-Wagner said.
They opened fire at the armed men, striking one of them in the upper thigh area. The other man fled the scene and remains at large.
Sheriff’s officials said the men may have been involved in a home invasion robbery just before the encounter with the deputies.
A search later revealed three weapons and a bag of marijuana that are believed to be connected to the two men, sheriff’s officials said.
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle