A 16-year-old girl was shot in the head by a Houston police officer this morning after she and another person led officers on a chase in far southwest Houston, investigators said.
The girl, who is still alive, was hiding under a car and made a movement with her hands when she was shot by the officer, said Houston Police Department Homicide Sgt. Eric Mehl. She is at Ben Taub Hospital, where she is listed in stable condition, hospital officials said.
The trouble began around 5 a.m. in the 7000 block of McHard Road after two people became fearful they were about to be robbed, Mehl said.
The two were walking to a bus stop when some people wearing masks pulled up next to them in a white Lexus, Mehl said. One of the victims, fearing a robbery was about to happen, ran to a nearby truck where a man was sleeping, and he called police.
As a police officer was interviewing the victims minutes later, the same Lexus cruised by on McHard Road, Mehl said. The officer chased the car onto a cul de sac, and the man driving the Lexus then backed up and onto the police car’s hood, becoming stuck, Mehl said. The driver and the 16-year-old girl then bailed from the Lexus and ran from police, he said.
A short time later, an officer found the 16-year-old girl hiding underneath a car in a driveway in the 5400 block of Ridge Wind. The officer ordered the girl to come out, and she made some type of movement with her hands, at which time she was shot in the head by the officer, Mehl said.
Even after she was shot, the girl was still conscious and talking at the scene. Police said the bullet is believed to have lodged in her skull. She was rushed to the hospital.
The driver of the Lexus has been identified and is being charged in Fort Bend County with aggravated robbery, a police spokesperson said. He is not yet in custody.