A man killed by a Houston police officer had his hands in
the air when he was fatally shot, witnesses said, disputing the official
account of the incident.
Houston Police Department officials said Rufino Lara refused
officer J. McGowan’s commands in Spanish and English to stop when she spotted
him walking away while she was investigating an assault Monday afternoon. He
kept one of his hands tucked under his shirt, police said. When he turned
around suddenly with his hand still under his shirt, McGowan shot him once,
killing him, police said.
On Tuesday, two people disputed that account.
Florida Ruvio, a family friend, bumped into Lara on his way
back from a liquor store near the 7000 block of Bissonnet near Fondren in
southwest Houston. Lara told her that some men were chasing him with a knife
and asked her to call police.
When two officers arrived to investigate the assault report,
they approached Lara, asking him to stop and put his hands up.
“They were speaking to him in English only,” Ruvio said at a
news conference.
Lara, who doesn’t speak English, did not stop the first
time, Ruvio said. Eventually, he put both hands up against the wall of a vacant
store, facing his back to the officers.
“He didn’t have his hands in his pocket or his shirt,” said
Ruvio, who remained with Lara throughout the event.
A second witness, 14-year-old Rigoberto Rubio, who was
buying water from a machine nearby, said he also saw Lara with both hands
against the wall. The teenager said he didn’t know Lara personally.
Suddenly, Lara turned around to face the officers and was
shot fatally by McGowan, Ruvio said, his hands still suspended in the air.
Stunned at the scene, Ruvio yelled to McGowan that she had
killed an innocent person, and McGowan responded that “he had drawn out a gun.”
McGowan then proceeded to tear Lara’s shirt open and take
off his shoes, said Ruvio. No weapon was found.
Ruvio brought out her phone to
take a video of the scene, she said, but an officer seized it from her, telling
her she was not to record anything.
On Tuesday, Houston police declined to comment about the
allegations, citing the HPD internal affairs investigation into the shooting.
HPD chief Charles McClelland released a statement offering
his condolences to the family.
“The Houston Police Department places the highest value on
the preservation of human life. Police officers have the difficult task of
making split-second decisions to keep themselves and others safe on a daily basis,”
McClelland said.
He noted that a Harris County grand jury will also hear
evidence in the shooting. HPD and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office
are also investigating.
“The investigation will be open and transparent, and we ask
that the public withhold judgment until all the facts and evidence has been
gathered and the investigation is complete,” McClelland said.
Family members, witnesses and community activists attended
the news conference arranged by the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice.
“He wasn’t a troublemaker,” said Lara’s nephew, Jose Lara.
“This was cold-blooded murder.”
Lara’s criminal record consists of two misdemeanors –
trespassing and giving false information to a police officer.
“These officers are never ever called to justice,” said
Ovide Duncantell, director of the Black Heritage Society. “We need a police
review board … because somebody we paid and trusted to defend us is killing
us.”