Four officers with the Houston Police Department have been fired for fatally shooting a subject in late April, and the local union has responded with a stern statement.
According to CNN, the officers had responded to calls of an emotionally disturbed subject—later identified as 27-year-old man Nicolas Chavez—acting erratically.
Officers deployed ECDs in an effort to get Chavez under control and into custody, but that tactic was unsuccessful. They then attempted to subdue the subject with less-than-lethal bean-bag rounds, also to no effect.
Officers then opened fire with a total of 21 rounds being shot.
Police Chief Art Acevedo called the barrage of gunfire at the end of the incident unreasonable.
The Houston Police Officers' Union criticized Acevedo's decision, saying that the officers showed that in deploying several less-than-lethal options and attempting to make verbal contact with Chavez—who, upon a toxicology investigation was found to have had methamphetamine, amphetamine and ethanol in his system when he died—used lethal force only as a last resort.
