HPD Officer Shoots Armed Kidnapper-Rescues Child

Houston Police Officer C. Sellers deserves huge kudos for his heroic actions. I'm sure he didn't want to have to shoot a kidnapper but he had no choice. The story is buried under an article about police making fewer arrests during power outages. Well duh! During disasters police usually only make arrests if they absolutely have to. When digging through the article we see this;

"A Houston police officer's fatal shooting of a kidnapping suspect last week also received scant public attention in the aftermath of the storm. Police on Wednesday were patrolling an apartment complex in the 5300 block of Hershe when officers heard a child screaming for help, HPD officials said.

Officer C. Sellers ran toward the sound. Turning a corner, he spotted Patrick Dante Mathis, 29, wielding a shotgun and dragging an 11-year-old boy behind him.

There was no relationship between Mathis and the boy, police said.

"He was just in the apartment complex and the guy grabbed him," said HPD officer Gabe Ortiz.

Sellers, assigned to HPD's northeast patrol division, ordered Mathis to drop the weapon and release the boy. He refused, police said, and began to raise the shotgun barrel to the child's head.

Sellers then fired, fatally striking Mathis. The child was not harmed. The case remains under investigation by Houston police and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Police have not determined the motive for the fatal shooting of a man in southeast Houston, hours after Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston."

Good job Officer Sellers. I know the media won't do it, but the public thanks you. Like my headline? That's the gist of the story. However had a hurricane not hit, it would have been something like 'officer shoots man holding child.' I hate the media.