DPS trooper to face grand jury after being accused of shooting neighbor during mistaken break-in

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A grand jury is expected to determine whether a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper should be indicted after police say he opened fire on a neighbor whom he mistook for someone trying to break into his downtown Houston apartment.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed to ABC13 it will present the case like it does with any other shooting involving law enforcement.

"(The trooper) will have to pass the test of 'Were you in fear of your life? Why did you not call 9-1-1? Why did you not call for backup? Why did you not sit in your apartment while police responded?'" Tony Leal, retired chief of the Texas Rangers and president of PPI Security, said.

According to the Houston Police Department, the trooper, whom the DPS declined to identify, opened fire at the neighbor just after midnight on Monday inside the high-rise apartment complex at 500 Crawford, which is across the street from Minute Maid Park.

When Houston police arrived at the scene, the DPS trooper told them he was inside his own apartment when the man tried to break in. However, a spokesperson for the building's ownership group, Finger Companies, said they believe the incident to be a case of one resident mistaking another's apartment as his own.

Records obtained by ABC13 confirm the two men live in units that end in the same two numbers one floor apart. Police said the trooper shot his neighbor through the door after giving verbal commands.

The man ran down the hallway, and officers later found him with a wound in his shoulder on his own floor. Officers applied two tourniquets, and he was taken to the hospital.

Police said the neighbor, who was only identified as a Black man in his 30s, is expected to live.

"(He is the) quietest, kindest, down-to-earth guy," the man's neighbor, Tadd Ledet, said.

Ledet's security camera captured Houston police officers running down the hallway with guns drawn on the floor he shares with the man moments after the shooting.

Photographs that other residents of the high-rise shared with ABC13 show that each floor of the complex looks similar. Ledet said access is controlled by a key fob, and each unit has two locks.

Ledet said he is confused as to why the interaction ended with a shooting "especially from a cop who is supposed to protect you."

For more updates on this story, follow Shannon Ryan on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.