Man shot by off-duty HPD officer at St. Joseph's Hospital

A man is hospitalized in critical condition after being shot by an off duty Houston Police officer. He was a patient on the 8th floor of  St. Joseph’s hospital in downtown Houston, when hospital staff say he became combative.

They called for help, and two Houston police officers, working off duty security at the hospital, responded.

Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith says the patient fought with uniformed officers, too,

“It was a pretty severe struggle,” Smith said, explaining that the officers were being injured.

“During the struggle one of the officers attempted to use his taser,” Smith said. “When that had no effect on the patient, and he continued struggling to injure the officers, his partner discharged his duty weapon, striking the patient.”

Smith says the officer fired one shot, but would not say where the bullet landed.  The man was rushed to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, while both officers went to the Emergency Room for treatment.

Smith said both officers sustained head lacerations, and one of the officer suffered a “severe concussion.”

HPD did not have information on how the patient inflicted the wounds to the officers, but it’s still under investigation.

The hospital said it could not release information why the patient was already in the hospital for privacy reasons.