Police said the shooting began after an officer confronted a man carrying a pink purse with a handgun inside.
HOUSTON, Texas — A man was killed Wednesday afternoon after Houston police said he pointed a handgun at an officer and exchanged gunfire near Glenmont Drive in the Gulfton area of southwest Houston, setting off a large police response near schools and apartment buildings.
The shooting drew attention because it happened in daylight in a dense residential area near a high school and a K-8 charter school as children were leaving campus. Police said the officer was grazed during the gunfire but was not taken to a hospital. The man died at the scene. Investigators have not publicly identified him, and the case now moves into the city’s standard review process for officer-involved shootings.
According to Houston police, officers received a call at 3:52 p.m. about a man walking westbound in the 5800 block of Glenmont Drive with a black handgun that had been placed inside a pink purse. Police said an officer arrived within minutes and saw the man still carrying the purse. The officer got out of the patrol vehicle and repeatedly ordered him to put it down, authorities said. Instead, the man reached into the purse, pulled out the handgun and pointed it at the officer, Assistant Chief Luis Menendez-Sierra said at the scene. The officer fired, police said, and the man returned fire. Investigators said the two exchanged multiple rounds as the officer moved behind the patrol unit for cover.
Police said the man then ran into a nearby apartment complex, and the officer followed as more shots were fired. By the end of the confrontation, the suspect had been struck several times, according to authorities. Police said the officer suffered a graze wound on the right side of the abdomen and was expected to recover. The patrol vehicle was hit at least once in the exchange, a detail investigators cited as part of the evidence now being reviewed. First responders rendered aid to the wounded man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials did not release the man’s age or name Wednesday, and they said they did not yet know whether he had any criminal history tied to earlier police contacts.
The setting added to the urgency. Gulfton is one of Houston’s most crowded neighborhoods, with apartment complexes, schools and steady afternoon traffic packed into a small area. A witness who called 911 told local television crews she became alarmed after seeing the man near children. Ana Trejo said she was worried because students were nearby and a school bus was dropping children off around the time of the shooting. “He was just walking around with a gun,” she said. Police did not say Wednesday whether anyone besides the officer and the suspect was physically injured. The heavy police response shut down part of the area for hours as investigators marked evidence, interviewed witnesses and tracked the path of the gunfire from the street into the apartment complex.
Under Houston Police Department protocol, the officer is expected to be placed on administrative duty while the investigation continues. Police said the officer has been with the department for 14 months. Authorities also said body-worn camera video exists and is expected to be released within 30 days under department practice. The case is likely to be reviewed by the HPD Special Investigations Unit, Internal Affairs and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, which typically examines officer-involved shootings for possible criminal issues and legal sufficiency. Investigators still have several unanswered questions, including the dead man’s identity, where he obtained the weapon and what led him to be walking through the neighborhood before the first 911 call.
By early evening, flashing lights still filled the block near Renwick and Glenmont as officers stood behind yellow tape and residents watched from sidewalks and balconies. Television helicopters circled overhead while detectives moved between the street and the apartment complex. The witness accounts and police description painted a fast-moving confrontation that began with a suspicious-person call and ended in deadly gunfire within minutes. For residents, the most jarring detail was how close the shooting came to the after-school rush. For investigators, the next steps center on video, ballistics, the officer’s statement and the effort to identify the dead man and reconstruct the exchange round by round.
The man remained unidentified late Wednesday, and police said more information, including body-camera video and investigative findings, is expected in the coming days and weeks as the shooting enters formal review.
Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.