BWC: Knife-wielding man stabs Houston officer in the head before fatal OIS

HOUSTON — Houston police released body-worn camera video showing the tense moments before an officer was stabbed in the head during a confrontation that ended in a fatal officer-involved shooting outside a downtown CVS.

The incident happened around 7:25 p.m. on Nov. 23 at a CVS on Milam Street, according to the Houston Police Department. In the video, a man approaches two officers and asks for help. Sandoval appeared upset about leaving his cereal and milk on a bus.

As officers attempted to speak with him, the man became increasingly agitated, the body camera footage shows.

“You came to us for help. We’re trying to help you, do you understand that?” one officer can be heard saying in the video.

“Yes, I know. But do not try me,” the man responded.

Officers repeatedly told the suspect to stop reaching into his pocket as his tone escalated.

“Don’t try me. You get closer, and I’m gonna [expletive] you up,” the suspect said.

Despite continued efforts to calm him, the man refused to comply with officers’ verbal commands. At one point, he told officers his apartment complex was being attacked, according to the video.

According to HPD, officers attempted to detain the man for a possible mental health investigation. During the encounter, police say the suspect produced a knife and stabbed Officer J. Garza behind his left ear, causing a large laceration to his head.

Officers and the suspect fell to the ground as they struggled to gain control of the knife. During the struggle, Officer R. Perales fired his duty weapon, striking the suspect at least once. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced the suspect dead at the scene.

Garza was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, where he was treated and later released, police said. Perales was not injured in the incident.

Both Garza and Perales are assigned to HPD’s Downtown Patrol Division and were sworn in as officers in June 2023.