The July 6 shooting happened in broad daylight in a busy shopping and dining area, sending people nearby scrambling for cover.
Police said officers found Jamarcus Spates inside a vehicle that had been reported stolen out of Fort Bend County. An off-duty officer initially spotted Spates, according to police.
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Video from the scene shows officers surrounding the vehicle and shouting commands at Spates before the situation escalated.
In one video, Spates appears to open the vehicle door with something in his hand. Gunfire then erupts as eight officers and a police sergeant open fire.
Brian Baxter, a Force Science Ltd. consultant, Iraq War veteran and retired training leader with the Texas Department of Public Safety, reviewed six videos from the incident for ABC13.
"It was a busy area and that was definitely a deadly force response," Baxter said.
"Complete chaos and pretty terrifying," Kristen Collins said. "All I could think about was my girls."
She said she and others took cover and moved along the ground to avoid the gunfire.
Baxter said officers were forced to make decisions with limited information.
"In an event like this with a lack of incoming information, those officers are operating on what they've experienced before," Baxter said.
He noted that a reported stolen vehicle and a suspect's failure to comply with commands can be factors officers consider when determining the level of threat.
Video also shows officers retreating while holding their firearms behind them.
Baxter said that could have been an attempt to keep their muzzles from pointing at people who were moving around them.
"He appeared to me to be struggling to find a safe place for his muzzle," Baxter said.
Baxter said officers also had to consider where their weapons were pointed as people moved nearby.
"One of the things I would be concerned about is pointing my muzzle at things I wouldn't want to destroy," he said.
Spates was ultimately taken into custody and treated at a hospital for what was described as a graze wound.
Baxter said he was relieved no officers were injured during the encounter.
"The officers were assuming, frankly, a great deal of risk by getting that shield and approaching the vehicle with all of the unknowns," Baxter said.
ABC13 reached out to the Houston Police Department to confirm whether Spates had a weapon during the encounter. Police have not confirmed that detail.
Spates has not been charged in connection with the shooting. He remains jailed on a $35,000 bond on the stolen-vehicle case.
SEE ORIGINAL REPORT: Suspect hospitalized after being shot by HPD officers in Highland Village area, police say