Neighbors help take down man accused of shooting deputy

BRAZORIA COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- Four men helped take down a man accused of shooting a Brazoria County deputy Saturday night. Brian Spinks, 26, is charged with attempted capital murder of a peace officer and remains in jail in lieu of $1,000,000 bond. The deputy, Brian Harper, was shot in his bulletproof vest and was not hurt.

Eyewitness News spoke exclusively with one of the men who tackled Spinks after he allegedly pulled the trigger.

"Yeah, we were actually holding him down so he wouldn't get away until we got him cuffed and he was still trying to put up a fight, trying to get away," said the man, who wanted to remain anonymous.

Deputy Brian Harper arrived at the Demi-John Island area Saturday before 6:30pm. Neighbors say they had seen Spinks wandering the streets near CR-459 and CR-459D, acting strangely that day. Criminal Investigator Stephen Buchanan said as Harper tried to check Spinks for weapons, they got into a struggle.

"During the altercation of trying to control him - Brian Spinks pulled a gun, his own gun, and shot Deputy Harper," he explained.

Buchanan said Harper managed to get the gun away from Spinks. When neighbors heard the gunshot, they ran to help.

"With me being a firefighter, volunteer out here, I had to go out there and check the officer 'cause we had enough guys to hold the suspect down," explained the man who helped subdue Spinks.

He said if the bullet had hit Harper a half-inch lower, it would have missed his vest and hit him. He only suffered bruises to his stomach area.

"There's never been any kind of shots fired or any kind of criminal activity out here. It's real peaceful," the man explained.