#09-01-2021

Houston, Texas — The Houston Police Department released body cam and doorbell video of an officer-involved shooting in which a suspect ran over a Harris County Precinct 1 deputy. Authorities said it all began around 9:30 p.m. when deputies with the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office requested assistance from the Houston Police Department in pursuit of a stolen black Volkswagen Atlas SUV as it traveled the wrong way on Hardy Road. Deputies attempted to stop the vehicle, but the suspect, 39-year-old Omar Hernandez Lazano, ignored all signals to stop and proceeded to lead deputy constables on a high-speed chase. During the pursuit, the deputies requested assistance from HPD. Several HPD marked patrol units assisted in the vehicle pursuit, which lasted approximately 20 minutes. During the pursuit, Lazano pulled into the front yard of a home and quickly backed the vehicle into the driveway. The primary patrol unit, a Precinct 1 Constable Sergeant, blocked the driveway with his vehicle so Lazano could not pull back into the roadway and continue to flee in the vehicle.

At that point, Lazano put the vehicle in reverse and, at a high rate of speed, crashed into the home with such force that the back half of the vehicle was inside the home. Numerous deputies began to converge on the vehicle. As they did so, Lazano drove the vehicle forward at a high rate of speed and ran directly over a deputy and dragged him approximately 20 feet until Lazano struck the marked constable vehicle that blocked his path. At that time, five Precinct 1 Constable deputies and one HPD officer discharged their duty weapons, striking Lazano as he was in the driver’s seat of the crashed vehicle. Paramedics pronounced Lazano deceased. The injured deputy was transported by Life Flight helicopter to the hospital where he remains in critical, but stable condition. During the shooting, one Precinct 1 Constable sergeant was struck in the left leg by a ricocheted bullet. Paramedics treated the sergeant at the scene.