Charges have been laid in the recent shooting of a Houston police officer at an apartment complex on Hollister Street. Ricardo Lezama, 39, faces two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant after Officer F. Garcia sustained a gunshot wound to the leg around 8 p.m. on Monday. Garcia, a member of the Northwest Patrol Division since 2014, is now being treated at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and is in stable condition, Houston police reported.
Upon responding to a disturbance at 6000 Hollister Street, Garcia and his partner were approached by citizens who alerted them to a situation at an apartment unit where they encountered Lezama, it was then a witness claimed the suspect harbored a weapon. The officers, attempting to de-escalate, commanded Lezama to show his hands—commands which fell on deaf ears as he turned and opened fire, striking Garcia, according to official statements.
The impending aftermath saw additional officers arriving at the scene to assist with first aid until paramedics were able to transport Officer Garcia to the hospital; meanwhile, the encounter with Lezama concluded without further violence, as he eventually complied with officers’ repeated directives to reveal his hands and leave the apartment's wooden fenced patio area, leading to his arrest without further incident, this sequence of events is part of the ongoing investigation by the HPD Special Investigations Unit and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
