Read the resident's responses:

[url]http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1452271[/url]

Harris County, TX Deputy killed.
I went to the ODMP looking for info about the Chandler, AZ officer.
I found this: .Link to ODMP

Deputy Sheriff Shane Ronald Bennett
Harris County Sheriff's Department, TX


Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: June 12, 2002
Date of Incident: June 12, 2002
Age: 29
Tour of Duty: 8 yr
Suspect Info: Two shot and killed
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type



Deputy Bennett was shot and killed as he and several other deputies responded to a home invasion call where shots had been fired. At least five gang members had broken into the home and had shot a woman and a two-month-old child. Dispatchers who heard the shots notified the responding deputies who attempted to enter the home when they arrived. During the exchange of gunfire two of the suspects were shot and killed and Deputy Bennett was mortally wounded. He was flown to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. One of the suspects was apprehended a short time later and at least two others remain at large.
Deputy Bennett had been with the agency for eight years and is survived by his wife and 18-month-old daughter.

Aimless, it was a neighbor, not a cop, saying that.

June 13, 2002, 2:04PM


Additional charges against suspects awaited
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

As Houston's law enforcement officers mourned slain sheriff's Deputy Shane Bennett today, investigators looked at adding capital murder to the charges against the gang members rounded up Wednesday.

Two suspects were killed in the gunfire that erupted early Wednesday morning as deputies attempted to enter the house where masked men had broken in and threatened the family with guns. Killed were Daniel Damian Jr., 20, of the 9300 block of East Avenue L, and Carlos Alberto Ramirez, 24, of the 7600 block of Azalea, both of Houston.

Three other suspects fled but a massive manhunt followed, and all three were in custody by the evening:

• Christian Gonzalez, 17, was believed to be the get-away driver and did not enter the home or participate in the shooting, investigators say. He was captured minutes after the shooting trying to drive away, and he helped authorities identify the other two suspects who fled. He was charged with aggravated robbery.

• Richard Longoria, 30, turned himself in to deputies shortly after 1 p.m. He was charged with aggravated robbery.

• Benjamin Gonzalez Jr., the 24-year-old brother of Christian Gonzalez, was apprehended under a home whose owner was on vacation just a few blocks from the shooting scene at 6:20 p.m. He surrendered when police received a tip and surrounded the home. He was charged with aggravated robbery.

All were said to have ties to the Latin Kings, a sophisticated criminal gang known to have roots in the area.

Wednesday's bloodshed began with a teen-age girl's frantic 911 call reporting that armed men had broken into their northeast Harris County home and were ransacking the place.

Sheriff's Department officials said the home invasion was apparently drug related, but the family said the suspects made a mistake.

"They kept yelling, `Where's the stuff? Where's the stuff?' Somebody had told them we had something. But I don't know what," said Crystal De La Garza, 18, who made the 911 call.

Her stepfather, Fernando Silva, said the men came to their modest house in the 3000 block of Havner in error.

"They started shouting that they wanted money, they wanted jewelry, they wanted marijuana, and where was it," Silva said. "My wife shouted, `We don't have anything. Search where you want in the house; we don't have anything.' I heard them say (to each other) that they had made a mistake."

Deputies rushed to the house, and gunfire broke out as they tried to enter, killing the two suspects but also mortally wounding Bennett, a 29-year-old Harris County sheriff's deputy. He reportedly only was able to whisper his young daughter's name, Alyssa, before he died.

Ten people were in the home, De La Garza said. Two of them -- her sister and her infant nephew -- were wounded in the gunfight.

Rosa De La Garza, 22, and her 3-month-old son, Ray, were on a bed near the door of a bedroom and were hit inadvertently, Crystal De La Garza said. Both underwent surgery Wednesday. The mother was listed in fair condition, with a gunshot wound to the side. The child suffered an injury to the wrist and also was in fair condition, though doctors said he could lose his hand.

As calls for help went out, about 100 officers from a half-dozen agencies established a 10-block perimeter around the shooting scene. Painstakingly, with the aid of helicopters and tracking dogs, officers searched the working-class neighborhood and surrounding commercial and wooded areas along Halls Bayou.

The Sheriff's Department set up a command post at nearby Worsham Elementary School, where students attending summer school classes were locked in through the day. Aldine Independent School District locked down nine of its schools within a five-mile radius of the shooting scene for part of the day.

Sheriff Tommy Thomas spent much of the day at the crime scene and at the hospital where he met with friends and family of Bennett.

Thomas said detectives' information indicates all involved in the invasion are members of the Latin Kings, whose graffiti mars traffic signs and fences throughout the neighborhood.

Longoria and Benjamin Gonzalez have criminal histories, Thomas said. Gonzalez, whose last known address is in the 1400 block of Rosemary, has been twice convicted of failing to identify himself as a fugitive.

Longoria, who also uses the first name Gregory and the nicknames Bear or Oso, has been convicted of possession of a weapon.

Both men have been handled for other charges, some violent, Thomas said. He said one of the dead suspects was out of jail on bail while awaiting trial in a carjacking incident.

As he grieved Bennett's death, Thomas praised the actions of Bennett and his fellow officers, noting the wounded mother and child and the others in the house could have been killed if the deputies had not intervened.

"In a situation like this, you've got to go in," he said. "Had they waited outside, maybe he would be alive, but there were ... people in that house at risk."

Officers from nearly every agency in the area gathered at Memorial Hermann Hospital to give blood after hearing of Bennett's shooting.

When the officers received word the deputy had died, some remained at the hospital to comfort his family and one another.

Bennett is survived by his wife and their 20-month-old daughter.

His shooting is the second of a deputy within a week. Sgt. Tommy J. Bohannon remained in serious condition at Memorial Hermann with gunshot wounds to his wrist and abdomen.

Bohannon, 41, was shot Sunday by Waseem Jung, 19, who fled a routine traffic stop and opened fire on pursuing deputies. Jung was killed by return fire.

Doesn't matter :) If in doubt, make your [i]second[/i] round the warning shot :)

Question, is Texas having a problem with criminals running around with rifles- or are these Houston cops not wearing their body armor?

You have to wear your armor people, all the deputies here do, and its 110 here today...

The Harris County Deputy was shot in the head if I'm not mistaken.  I seriously doubt a vest would have done any good there.  

That's the problem with all the hoodlums and their mommmas. The little punks go out killing and then momma says, "My baby could never do that." And then when they finally have to admit that their little baby DID do it then it's somebody else's fault. Must be society. Yeah right.

So the news tonight had a report about how the signs of gangs had dropped off. They were interviewing a guy who said that the gangs are still as active as ever but just not spray painting their names everwhere. They are just staying more "low-keyed". Time to get a night vision scope. [;)]

Here's hoping they don't make it to trial!
[beer]

Well that has not been in any published account, not that it would surprise me under the circumstances. I was hoping someone could say for sure.

It is something that does happen during summer heat waves, the temptation to leave the mother behind.

I was wondering when someone would notice that. Is it a wonder or a tribute that the three other suspects were taken alive?

It's neither a wonder or a tribute, but a shame

Jung was armed with an AK-47.  But, most officers I've seen don't wear their body armor.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

For those of you in the area, Chris Baker, the local pro-gun conservative talk show host on KPRC 950 AM and former standup comedian, is doing a benefit show for the 100 Club.  The 100 Club is an organization that benefits officers and their families who are killed in the line of duty.  Chris has promised all proceeds will go to the 100 Club and they will do as many shows as they can sell out.  I believe the show will be on Monday, June 17 at the Laff Spot Wilowbrook location.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

He [i]really[/i] had a Kalashnakov-type?

Does that happen a lot in Texas these days?

They're pretty common at the 2,000 table gun shows we have 5 times a year and I see them often at the range, so yes, I'd say they're somewhat common.

If you're implying someone using one to shoot at a cop, I'm unaware of that being common.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

I would have to agree.  I THINK I could put up with most of the BS that LEO have to, but apprehending known accomplices in a shooting that just took place would be hard.  It would be hard not to be praying that the guy would make an "aggressive move" - BAM!