The show of support for slain Officer Henry Canales was overwhelming. Police cars lined the streets and officers crowded around the entrance to the emergency room, just waiting for news on one of their own.
Officers swarmed around the Canales family as they arrived at the hospital. The officer's wife, Amora, their 17-year-old daughter, Stephanie, and their 15-year-old son, Henry Jr., all arrived together. They were all escorted inside by members of the Houston Police Department.
Sadly, by the time the family made it to the hospital, it's likely that Officer Canales had already died. Police say he was shot once in the body and died at Ben Taub Hospital.
Canales served in the department for 16 years, spending the last seven of them in the auto theft division, the same division he was working last night when he was shot.
HPD Chief Harold Hurtt was at the hospital as well overnight and he told Eyewitness News that he has spent time with those officers who worked closely with Canales to get some insight as to what kind of man he was.
"He was very dedicated. (He was) not only an outstanding officer, but an outstanding individual," said Chief Hurtt. "He cared a lot about the people that he worked with. He cared a lot about the citizens of Houston. He was a hero to his family."
We spoke to the lieutenant of the auto theft division, who says that his officers and certainly Officer Canales were accustomed to being in dangerous situations and trained for those dangerous situations. But things don't always work out as planned.
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