HOUSTON — The Houston Police Department on Wednesday released videos showing a shooting involving two of their officers last month.
The man who was shot, Savion Cartrell Brinson, survived the shooting and is charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon, authorities said.
Two officers opened fire during the incident on Richmond Avenue at the intersection of Hillcroft Avenue around 3 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 12. Officer E. Bettinger has been with HPD since 2011 and Officer C. Santana has been with the department since 2017. Neither officer was injured.
HPD said officers were dispatched to the scene after getting reports of a crash at the intersection of Richmond and Hillcroft.
While they were on the way, they learned that one of the people involved in the crash had a gun.
Officers got there and saw people gathered in a gas station parking lot and the road. There was also a car that appeared to have been in a crash on the road.
“They (the officers) were approaching as if it was a wreck and someone that needed to assist, and then the individual got out with a firearm,” HPD Assistant Police Chief Wyatt Martin said at the time of the shooting.
Officers approached the car and saw Brinson, 30, with a gun in his hand as he got out. The officers told him to put the gun down, but they said Brinson refused to do so. That’s when Bettinger and Santana opened fire.
Brinson was shot multiple times and officers performed life-saving measures on him until paramedics got there.
As of Feb. 5, Brinson was still in the hospital recovering.
Anyone with information about the initial crash or the shooting is asked to call the HPD Special Investigations Unit at 713-308-3600.