The shooting occurred early Saturday morning after police responded to a call that [group home] resident Brian Claunch was acting aggressively after his caretaker refused to give him a cigarette and a soda, the owner of the home and police said.
"The officers made verbal commands for the suspect to drop whatever he had in his hand, to stay still and to speak with the officers, but the suspect continued to make threats," Jodi Silva, a police spokeswoman, told CNN affiliate KTRK in Houston.
Claunch, who [was schizophrenic and had] lost an arm and a leg in a train accident, trapped one of the officers with his wheelchair in the corner of a room and attempted to stab the officer with an object that turned out to be a pen.
Officer Matt Marin, "in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharges his duty weapon, striking the suspect," Silva said.
Marin shot Claunch once. He died at the scene, according to investigators.
It was the second time Marin was involved in a shooting. In October 2009, he shot and killed a knife-wielding man who stabbed his girlfriend and a neighbor, according to published reports at the time. Marin joined the Houston Police Department in 2007.
CNN could not reach the department for comment, but Houston police said the officer was placed on administrative leave per policy.
Claunch, who was in his 40s, had been at the Healing Hands home for 18 months, John Garcia, the owner of the group home, told KRTK.
Houston police shoot wheelchair-bound double amputee threatening people with a pen
Current Status: Published (4)
Seeded on Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:19 AM

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