79°
71º | 86°
67° | 73°
Authorities have identified the law enforcement officer who was fatally shot at a Southwest Houston Mall on Feb. 23.
The Houston Police Department (HPD) and the San Jacinto County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office said Deputy Constable Neil Adams perished while working an extra job at the PlazAmericas Mall at 7500 Bellaire Blvd., Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported.
"We lost one of our heroes," San Jacinto County Precinct 1 Constable Roy Rogers said, according to KHOU. “He worked hard. He took care of his family. He took care of the constituents of his county. Please pray for Deputy Constable (Neil) Adams’s family.”
Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner explained that prior to the shooting, Adams and an unidentified individual were involved in an altercation around 4 p.m.
The suspect took Adams's firearm and shot him, Finner said.
Police tracked the suspect down to the food court, where he was shot after he rushed toward them brandishing a sharp object, KHOU reported.
First responders rushed both Adams and the gunman to the hospital where they died.
Rogers said Adams graduated from the police academy in 2012 and was employed as the environmental constable for San Jacinto County, KHOU reported.
Dee Dee Adams compared her late husband to a sheepdog with a sense of duty to protect and vowed to be there for his fellow "sheepdogs."
"My husband always said you can either be a sheep or a sheepdog, and I want everybody to pray for all the sheepdogs out there that are protecting everybody," she said, according to the station. "And everybody's turned their back on them, and everybody should pray for all of them because they're here for you."
Finner said the suspect was a 35-year-old black man, Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported.
The chief added that details on him will be made at a later time.
Two of the officers who shot at the suspect were placed on administrative duties, according to the station.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident with assistance from HPD.