Chase ends in dramatic deputy-involved shooting with Harris County’s VIPER unit

Karen Araiza, Digital Content Lead, Houston

Brittany Taylor, Senior Digital Content Producer

HOUSTON – Harris County deputies chased a wanted gunman onto the feeder road of Beltway 8 in Humble and then shot him when he tried to climb onto stopped vehicles during traffic.

The VIPER unit -- a multi-agency task force to crack down on violent offenders -- was out looking for the man, who’s wanted on a felony warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

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They spotted him along Greens Road in Humble with a rifle.

When the 33-year-old man saw the deputies, he got in his vehicle and took off.

RELATED: Harris County task force working to arrest violent criminals, clears more 1,300 outstanding warrants in less than a year

They chased him until he stopped and got out of his car in traffic along the feeder Beltway 8 feeder road.

At that point, investigators say the gunman hopped onto one of the vehicles stopped in traffic and that’s when a deputy opened fire and shot him twice.

SKY 2 aerials showed blood on the ground, a rifle on the feeder road along with heavy police presence.

Multiple agencies were at the scene during rush hour and Harris County Sheriff’s Assistant Chief Tommy Diaz said drivers will be better off if they can find an alternate route.

The gunman is being treated at a local hospital.

No deputies were hurt and Diaz said they felt fortunate no one stopped in traffic was hurt. Deputies had also shut down a nearby preschool to protect everyone inside.

Diaz said they had a lot of body camera video to look at and were talking with witnesses who were stopped in traffic when the shooting happened.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office will lead the investigation, Precinct 8 will handle the Internal Affairs investigation into the 32-year-old deputy who shot the gunman and the District Attorney’s office will send its independent review to the Texas Attorney General’s office.

The VIPER task force, also called the Violent Persons Task Force, was launched in 2022 to arrest the area’s most violent criminals.

About two dozen deputies from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and constables’ offices of Precincts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8.

In 2023, the unit cleared more than 1,300 warrants in 10 months. That included 31 murder warrants, 205 family violence warrants, 244 assault warrants and 177 child abuse warrants.

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