Stress shot!

[TheeBadOne]

Police kill gunman after two are shot

Man reportedly attempts three carjackings before taking a hostage

A gunman who shot two people and tried to carjack three cars was shot and killed by Houston police after taking a hostage during a chase Monday, police officials said.

It was not immediately known what prompted the gunman to go on a rampage and his frantic footrace along Almeda Genoa, accosting those who crossed his path.

An officer chasing him was compelled to use deadly force when the man shot at his hostage, police said.

When it was over, the gunman was dead, collapsed in the backyard of a house near Hobby Airport.

The hostage was unharmed, save for a grazed ear.

Police had not released the name of the dead man early Monday evening.

The hostage, Tommy Blackwell, said the police officer likely saved his life. "I'm glad the police officer did what he did, or I wouldn't be alive right now," said Blackwell, 46. "Two other people got shot and are not in as good a shape as I am."

One of the attempted carjacking victims, Sam Jiminez, said the gunman appeared "paranoid" when he climbed, uninvited, into Jiminez's truck at a red light on Edgebrook.

"He came out of nowhere," Jiminez said later Monday. "He said, 'Where's Almeda Mall?' I said, 'Over there.' He said, 'You're going to take me there.' I said, 'No, I'm not.' "

Thinking quickly, Jiminez yanked his keys from the ignition and abandoned his truck, leaving the gunman inside.

The bold move paid off — the gunman did not fire at him.

The day's events began just after 2 p.m. when the gunman was suspected of burglarizing an apartment at 9988 Windmill Lakes, police said.

When an apartment maintenance man confronted him, the gunman dropped several bags.

The gunman then shot the maintenance man twice in the side, said Houston Police Department Lt. Robert Manzo.

The gunman ran down the street, where he confronted Jiminez at a red light.

When Jiminez fled, the gunman ran into Action Electronics at 9690 Almeda Genoa, where he tried to carjack the business owner, Manzo said.

The owner was shot in the leg, but the gunman still didn't get a car.

He then ran into a neighborhood, where he found Blackwell sitting in a truck behind a home in the 9600 block of Radio.

Blackwell said he was pulling into his friend's driveway when he noticed a police cruiser.

Then a gunman approached him "waving a gun" and ordered him to get onto the ground.

"I thought I'd better do what he says," Blackwell said.

The officer told the gunman to drop his gun.

The gunman kicked Blackwell, then told him to get up and start up his truck.

Blackwell complied.

He then heard the officer report into his radio, "Now, he's taken a hostage."

"I'm thinking if I get out of this alive, I'm lucky," Blackwell said.

The gunman screamed in the direction of the officer:

"I'll shoot him. I'll shoot him."

Manzo said the gunman ignored a Houston police officer's repeated commands to drop his weapon and then pointed his gun at the officer and Blackwell.

The gunman, standing next to the truck, began shooting at Blackwell, who was seated inside the vehicle, police said.

"At that point, our officer made the decision to fire at the suspect," Manzo said.

Blackwell said he heard the gunfire, then saw that the gunman had been shot. Blackwell said the gunman shot at him, hitting his ear.

The gunman died at the scene. The name of the officer who shot him was not immediately released.

Blackwell was bleeding from his ear after the ordeal but was able to walk away from the truck, Manzo said.

He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.

"I've got terrible ringing in my head," Blackwell said late Monday.

The medical conditions of the maintenance man and electronics shop owner were not immediately known, Manzo said.

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