Off-duty officer fires shots at suspects who tried to rob him

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston police officer on his way to work found himself in the middle of a shootout at a north Houston gas station.

It happened around 1:45 Monday afternoon at the Chevron gas station at the corner of Irvington and the North Loop. Houston police homicide detectives say the off-duty police officer was filling up and his friend was doing the same when a suspect crawled into his vehicle.

The officer's friend yelled at the officer to alert him to what was happening. The four-year veteran of the police force feared a weapon was in the passenger seat of his vehicle so he ran to his car and fired four shots at the suspect as he pulled away. The suspect and a getaway driver fled the scene in a metallic blue Chrysler four door sedan.

"It's just dangerous. The community we live in now. Wow. I couldn't believe it because something like this never happened here before," said store clerk Adi Pradhan.

No one was injured during the shooting.