Three police officers from the US city of Houston, Texas, were shot today during a confrontation with an armed man who barricaded himself in an apartment in a residential area.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner told reporters at a late-night news conference that members of that force are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, ABC News television reported.
Finner explained that the incident took place around 2:40 p.m. local time when officers responded to a domestic call.
The suspect opened fire with an automatic weapon, the officer added.
The individual, who was still resisting in Houston’s Fifth Ward, is reportedly a Latino identified as Roland Caballero.
This is the second incident in a week involving a law enforcement officer in that Texas city.
On Sunday, Corporal Charles Galloway of Harris County was killed by a gunshot at a traffic stop in southwest Houston.
As of January 27, four police officers had died from gun violence and 24 had been injured by gunshots, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an organization that tracks gun violence in the country.
“No more excuses. Let everyone take an active role and do what they can to fight gun violence in our city,” Finner said.
In general, last year 20,658 people lost their lives in the United States due to incidents involving firearms and 691 mass shootings were recorded, according to statistics from specialized agencies.
Other counts showed that deaths with those devices rose more than 24 percent in 2021 compared to 2019.
In a message to the nation last June, President Joe Biden reported that he met with a bipartisan group of civilian leaders and law enforcement officials to discuss the best way to stop “the epidemic” that is bleeding the country dry.
The United States holds the sad world record for possessing more guns than people within its geographic boundaries.
