Suspect in fatal shooting of HPD oficer linked to killing at Prairie View A&M


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Suspect in fatal shooting of HPD officer linked to killing at Prairie View A&M

This was on the front page of today's Houston Chronicle. I just wonder if he would have ever been arrested if the cop killing incident wouldn't have happened. It has been over a year. Hopefully, my neighbor can rest in peace now. R.I.P. Christopher Leon "Wax" Farrier.

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Man held in shooting of officer
By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle



A 19-year-old Houston man charged with capital murder in the Tuesday night shooting death of a Houston police officer has been the focus of a Waller County investigation into the killing of a Prairie View A&M University sophomore last year.
gurney.jpg

Kevin Fujii / Chronicle
The wounded suspect, 19-year-old Alex Adams, is handcuffed to a gurney in Ben Taub Hospital. His hands are bagged so investigators can check for gunpowder residue. He was charged with capital murder Wednesday.

Alex Adams is in the Harris County jail without bail, accused of slaying officer Albert Vasquez during a drug-related incident about 10:30 p.m. at a Sharpstown-area apartment complex. Vasquez, 32, was the second local law enforcement officer to be gunned down in the line of duty in 24 hours. Earlier in the day, Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Norman Dennis, 35, was shot to death as he was trying to arrest an 18-year-old northwest Houston man.

Vasquez and three other Houston police officers were working off-duty security jobs at the Natchez House Apartments at 6200 Marinette when the Tuesday night shooting occurred. Officer Enrique Duharte-Tur, 35, was also shot. He is at Ben Taub Hospital and was listed Wednesday in critical but stable condition, said Houston police spokesman Robert Hurst.

"They are cautiously optimistic about his chances for recovery," Hurst said.

Adams was with four other men who were being questioned for suspected drug activity, police said. He allegedly shot Vasquez in the head and opened fire at Duharte-Tur, striking him twice in the chest, while being escorted to the apartment's leasing office.

Adams, who lived at the complex, has also been charged with attempted capital murder in Duharte-Tur's shooting.

Police would not comment about how Adams was able to draw a handgun and fire at the officers while being questioned. Adams had not been handcuffed because he was on crutches, police said.

"It's still an ongoing investigation," Hurst said.

Although in police uniform at the time, neither officer was wearing his department-issued protective vest. Department officials recommend that officers wear the body armor, but said it is not a regulation.

Adams was shot in the right leg and also treated at Ben Taub Hospital. He later was released into police custody. A handgun believed used in the attack was recovered at the apartment complex, Hurst said. The four other men were in custody but no charges were filed immediately.

Meanwhile, Waller County authorities said Wednesday that Adams is a suspect in the killing of Christopher Leon Farrier, 21, from Duncanville. Farrier was at his off-campus house when he was shot May 11 of last year, and Prairie View police immediately suspected a Houston connection in the slaying, officials said.

Prairie View police and Waller County Sheriff Randy Smith confirmed Adams had become a focus of the investigation, but additional details were not available.

In Tuesday's shooting, the officers may have been on their first night working security at the apartment complex, Houston Police Chief Clarence Bradford said Wednesday.

The Houston Police Department, like most other law enforcement agencies, allows its officers to pick up off-duty assignments to supplement their income.

The department places restrictions on the location and the number of hours worked part-time.

Vasquez and Duharte-Tur joined the department seven years ago and were assigned to the west patrol division on Dairy Ashford.

Officer Paul Terry graduated with Vasquez and Duharte-Tur from the Houston police academy in February 1994.

"I remember they made us all go home and get haircuts," Terry said, wiping away tears. "(Vasquez) was the only one they made get another haircut when he came back the next day and it was still too long."

The shooting at the apartment complex hit close to home for the officers at the west side patrol division.

"It makes you appreciate your own family more," Terry said.

"Your wife and kids are expecting you to come home at night and come walking through that front door. It definitely makes you think," said officer Glenn Smith.

The Tuesday night shooting at the Natchez House Apartments wasn't the first fatal shooting in the area.

A private security guard was killed March 21 at an apartment complex across the street from where Vasquez was shot to death.

David Dejehova Guerra, 44, was gunned down at the Marinette Garden Apartments when he responded to a break-in and was shot by one of four men who kicked in an apartment door and demanded drugs.

A six-year resident of the 6200 block of Marinette called the neighborhood a "high crime area" but said the usual offenses aren't as serious as murder.

"Mostly it's family fights, and car thefts or break-ins," said Pete Aguilar.

Some Natchez House residents said drug dealers are a common sight and criticized apartment managers for not adequately cracking down on the problem.

"We've got kids up here they don't seem to care. They told us it was going to be good when we moved in here," said one resident, who didn't give her name because she feared retribution.

Another resident said the complex should be shut down and also criticized the presence of the off-duty police officers.

"It's drug-infested and they aren't doing anything," she said. "If they had 24-hour security, they wouldn't have these problems."

On-site managers declined to comment and referred all questions to the owners, Gatesco Inc. Calls to the owners were not returned Wednesday.

Vasquez is the 99th Houston police officer killed in the line of duty since 1860, police said. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; their 4-month-old son, Carlos; and a 6-year-old son, Andrew, from a previous marriage. Duharte-Tur's wife, Elizabeth, is five months pregnant.
 
if it involves PV.....folks on this board don't care....but thanks for the effort...
 
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some people DO indeed care ...

I read that article this morning. I was wondering if they were ever going to catch the guy that committed the fatal shooting from last year.

sad. :(
 
the handicapped parking thread at GSU and paper towel ass wiping threads received more attention....

where in the world are those other fly-by-night PV folks anyway?
 
cause I graduated from PV....that's why....:rolleyes:

I can't get into the private forum also to update you on some things...

I used to be called the band fan until the swac page administrators forced my name into earlier retirement
 
Sometimes

The SWAC/thebandfan

sometimes you can be an arse... I can say one thing most of the times if involes you I don't care... I read the post... I just didn't reply...

Why are you always so bitter?


Do you make it you mission to get on peoples **** list?
 
if someone gets offended what I say over the internetthen tough luck...

as long as the $hit list isn't my employer, my parents or whoever holds the key to my future, then it doesn't matter to me

Blaque Prince.....you already know the deal

;)
 
fight? lol.............didn't know I come across like that...

all I do is talk trash and speak the truth...we got enough sugar coaters already so I try to be different...

if everyone act the same the world would be boring
 
psychology 102 (if you ever got that far) says speak the truth (positive or negative) and folks will listen..

apparently you are because you keep responding. :D
 
Click here to visit HBCUSportsStore
That's where you're wrong, but that's not surprising ...

Originally posted by The SWAC
if it involves PV.....folks on this board don't care....but thanks for the effort...

We don't care only if it involves you ...

I wonder how long this parasite was going to be the "focus" of the Farrier murder before the cops took some action? *smh* that his ass was able to kill again ...

How much do police officers make, and how much do these off duty jobs tend to pay?
 
Some off-duty jobs for law inforcement officers in the Houston area include things like patrolling aparttment complexes in exchange for free rent. Also places like AstroWorld tend to pay pretty decent for off duty law enforcement officers.
 
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