Harris County shooting: Suspect dead following shootout involving 4 deputies

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A suspect is dead following a deadly deputy-involved shooting in North Harris County on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a sergeant working an overtime program focused on traffic enforcement conducted a traffic stop in the 100 block of West FM 1960.

SUGGESTED: Houston shooting: 7-year-old boy shot in drive-by shooting, investigation underway

Gonzalez stated the reasoning behind the traffic stop was an expired registration and busted tail light.

During the traffic stop, the sergeant began ordering the suspect, said to be a 47-year-old male, to get out of the vehicle, but the suspect refused to comply and requested a supervisor.

Gonzalez said several supervisors, along with several other deputies responded to the call, and attempted to reason with the suspect.

At one point, during the traffic stop, the suspect claimed to be a sovereign citizen and presented some type of letter identifying himself as such.

During the traffic stop, Gonzalez stated that the deputy's intent was to give a warning to the suspect.

However, during the traffic stop, which lasted for approximately one hour, officials learned that the man was wanted on a felony warrant out of Brazoria County.

As the discussion was ongoing, deputies placed spike strips in front of the vehicle to prevent him from leaving.

FOX 26 Houston is now on the FOX LOCAL app available through Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Roku, Google Android TV, and Vizio!

However, the suspect fled the scene, just after 4:15 p.m.

Then two minutes later, authorities attempted to PIT the SUV the suspect was driving. The vehicle then spun out, facing the opposite direction of travel, and the driver got out of the vehicle with a pistol, and started firing.

Gonzalez said the deputies then returned fire toward the suspect. The suspect attempted to get up following the first exchange of gunfire, and additional shots were fired before the suspect collapsed and was pronounced dead at the scene.

In total, authorities said four Harris County Sheriff's Office personnel were involved in the shooting: A sergeant with 25 years with the department, and three deputies with seven, two, and one year of service. Those deputies will be placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

Officials said during the exchange of gunfire between the suspect and deputies, one woman, who was 48-years-old and was in the parking lot, was struck by a bullet that hit her vehicle. She was hit in her side and was taken to the hospital. She was conscious and alert and is expected to survive.

A school bus, that had two people inside, was also nearby, was struck by gunfire. However, no one was injured in that vehicle. Also, a deputy's vehicle was struck by a bullet as well.

Authorities are asking anyone who may have saw anything to contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.