The shooting happened in the store's parking lot at 12375 Martin Luther King Blvd. at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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According to Houston police, Officer K. Cummins, whose first name wasn't provided by the department, determined a vehicle in the lot had been stolen in an armed robbery earlier that day.
Cummins saw a man in the driver's seat and attempted to detain him, according to police.
ORIGINAL STORY: Officer shoots man behind wheel of car taken from a robbery, HPD says
Police said the man, who they have not yet identified, "put the vehicle in reverse and intentionally struck the patrol vehicle." They claim the driver then exited the vehicle and "initiated a physical altercation" with Cummins in which both men ended up on the ground.
At that point, police said the driver's female acquaintance "hovered over top" of Cummins and grabbed his shirt.
Police said the driver knocked a Taser and magazine away from Cummins. His acquaintance, identified as Donneka Abraham, picked up the equipment and "refused" to give it back. Abraham has been charged with a count of interfering with an arrest.
According to police, the driver knocked off Cummins' radio and got on top of him. That's when police said Cummins fired his gun "at least once," hitting the man one time. The suspect was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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Officer also opened fire on someone in separate past incident, HPD says
Eyewitness News also learned that Cummins opened fire at someone while on duty in the past.
HPD confirms he shot and injured Mario Watts in a separate incident in 2021. Watts was out on five bonds at the time of the incident, police said.
Watts is heard on bodycam telling Cummins, "There's no reason to get out the car."
"But I'm asking you to. So therefore you have to," Cummins replies.
Cummins then refers to a Fourth Amendment Supreme Court case, Pennsylvania v. Mimms, as his reason for the command. Watts responds by asking the officer to call his sergeant, to which Cummins refuses.
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"Nah, ah, ah, ah," Watts replies, again asking for a sergeant.
"No, get out of the vehicle," Cummins says as he attempted to yank Watts from the car.
The bodycam becomes shaky as the situation leads up to its climax. Police said Watts tried to drive away, dragging Cummins, who then shoots opens fire.
The shooting on Tuesday is being investigated by the HPD Special Investigations Unit, the Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Cummins is on paid administrative duties during the investigation, according to Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Ban Tien.
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