It happened around 1:45am outside a CVS Pharmacy store on Fondren near Beechnut in southwest Houston. Authorities say a suspect walked into the store with a handgun. There were two females inside the store at the time -- one employee and one customer.
The suspect allegedly demanded that the females put as many items as they possibly could into two bags, including money, cigarettes and other items that were behind the register.
As they stuffed the bags, there was a male employee who was at the back of the store, saw what was going on and called 911. Police arrived and surrounded the building. The suspect apparently was frustrated with the clerk because she couldn't get the safe open and that's when he bolted through the door.
HPD Sergeant KE Smith saw the suspect leave the store and started chasing after him, firing several times.
"During that particular time, the adrenaline was moving and then he was running quickly and as soon as he saw the gun in a silhouette in a dimly lit parking lot, he wasn't going to take any chances with him turning around with it," said John Cannon with the Houston Police Department.
Crime scene investigators did recover a handgun as well of two bags full of items from the store.
The suspect, who was shot in the rear, was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Smith has been on the force for 26 years. This is the first time he has ever had to fire on a suspect.
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