Police destroy home where suspect in cop-shooting barricaded.
Posted by
Qale
Aug 18 '23, 09:14
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A frantic 24-hour period that began with the shooting of a Harris County sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop came to a dramatic close late Thursday after the alleged gunman surrendered to authorities following an hourslong standoff.
By the time it all ended, three more law enforcement officers were wounded trying to confront the man sought by multiple agencies. None of the officers hurt Thursday were seriously injured.
Terran Green, 34, was taken into custody around 11:45 p.m., about five hours after he barricaded himself inside a home in the 11500 block of Silhouette Ridge in northeast Harris County. The standoff ended after Green was cornered in an upstairs room of the house, authorities said. The Sheriff’s Office then used The Rook, a bulldozerlike machine with an extendable arm, to rip away an exterior wall and create an opening. He exited the two-story home by clinging to the vehicle's arm as it lowered him to the ground,
From there, Green was taken to the Harris County Jail, said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. He was charged with three counts of attempted capital murder.
"I want to thank everyone for their professionalism, their commitment and dedication, and for their restraint," he said. "We’ve had heavy hearts these past 24 hours praying for our wounded team members who have been injured. Despite that, we were focused on getting the job done."
Murray Newman, the president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, was critical of the decision to charge Green with attempted capital murder, instead of aggravated assault with the peace officer, as it raises the bar in his prosecution.
Essentially, attempted capital murder carries a punishment range of 5 to 99 years, or life, in prison, Newman said. It's the same range as aggravated assault of a peace officer, but will require prosecutors to establish intent to kill.
If a defense attorney can argue the man was only trying to slow down the officer, or scare him, that could convince a jury to find Green not guilty because of the charge, Newman said.
The U.S. Marshal Service sent a news release late Thursday that said its Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force was attempting to arrest Green, who the agency described as the prime suspect in Wednesday’s shooting of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Anderson, 29.
Green was not only wanted for the shooting of Anderson, but he also has outstanding warrants for aggravated assault of a family member and felon in possession of a weapon, the Marshal Service said.
The standoff began around 7 p.m. when authorities approached the home and were fired at by someone inside, Gonzalez said. A sheriff’s deputy was hit in the chest and in the back but wasn’t seriously injured because he was wearing body armor. Two deputy U.S. Marshals, called in from McAllen and Corpus Christi to assist in the search for Green, were grazed by bullets or hit by shrapnel. All were taken to a Kingwood hospital and expected to be OK.
None of the officers fired their weapons, Gonzalez added. He didn’t reveal how Green was tracked to the house, but he said investigators believed Green had "bounced around" to different locations since Anderson was shot.
As the standoff wore on, authorities were trying to talk to Green over a loudspeaker and urge him to come out peacefully. Heavy vehicles could be seen tearing down the front of the house and flying a drone in and around the building.
Gonzalez said they believed Green was alone in the home during the standoff but knew the residents who lived there. However when the first group of officers arrived at the home there were apparently other people in the house that soon exited.
Area residents trying to return home on John Ralston Road that evening were blocked from turning north by dozens of police vehicles. Some people parked and got out of their cars to watch the scene perched on the Sam Houston Tollway. Others filled the parking lot of a nearby gas station and convenience store.
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