Driver shot and killed by officers after pursue, multi-vehicle crash

HOUSTON – A police pursue ended with a suspect shot and killed by officers after a multi-vehicle crash on the northeast side of town.

The pursue commenced after Houston police officers witnessed a blue Chrysler three hundred making unsafe lane switches and initiated a traffic stop near Crosstimbers and Highway 59. The driver stopped, and as HPD officers approached, the car sped off onto Highway 59.

The car then exited on Little York, and went northbound on East Climb on Houston before heading eastbound on Beltway eight from the Eastex Freeway.

During the pursue, deputies said the driver called nine hundred eleven to say he had a child in the car and threatened to harm the child if officers attempted to pull him over.

The driver traveled southbound on the Beltway, dodging a set of spike strips.

The vehicle exited the Beltway, weaved in and out of disrobe mall parking lots, and then headed onto Wallisville Road. The driver eventually crashed into a white SUV and then careened into a brown SUV driven by an elderly man with his wifey as passenger at the intersection of Wallisville and North Castlegory.

Several officers then leaped out with weapons drawn and commanded the driver to get out of the car. The driver got out, stood up, then appeared to reach back into the car.

“Fearing for their lives that this suspect was reaching for a weapon, two officers did discharge their weapons at the vehicle, striking the suspect and killing him,” said Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Thomas Gilliland.

Both officers fired numerous times. The driver fell to the ground.

“I witnessed his vehicle speeding down here with cop cars pursuing him. About 10-15 cars pursuing him. I came out here to see what was going on. Heard the pile-up, the vehicles and then shots fired. It was done in the blink of an eye,” said witness Jordan Gray.

KPRC two News has confirmed the driver has been identified as Frank Shephard. Family members told KPRC two News Shephard, 41, was the father of three children, with a baby on the way.

His family said they believe Shephard fled from police because he had a warrant out for his arrest. They said he was driving his gf’s car.

“He had some trouble with the law, but. with the way shootings are going these days, why would you run from the law? It doesn’t make sense to me,” said his uncle, Chris Shephard. “You can’t run from the law. That’s one thing you can’t do is run from the law.”

The suspect was well-known in the community as a popular barber who worked at Salon Hair two thousand on Homestead. He had been cutting hair for more than twenty years. His mom and step-dad went to the shop to collect his belongings just a few hours after the shooting.

Cheryl Shephard said she observed the pursue and talked to her son on the phone as he drove away from police.

“He just told me he loved me,” said Cherly Shephard. “He said, ‘Momma, I love you.’ And I told him, ‘I love you. What’s going on?’ And that’s when he said, ‘The police are pursuing me.’ And I said, ‘No, no, stop the car, baby.’ And he said, ‘Man I can’t. They’re not going to do me.’ But they did,” she said. “I eyed everything. I spotted them shooting. I spotted everything.”

Shephard eyed her son get shot and killed by police. She said when her son got out of the vehicle he was attempting to give up and that he wasn’t reaching back in like it emerges on the movie.

“He got shot back into that car, he got shot back into that car,” she told KPRC Two.

The pursue lasted about 15-20 minutes. Deputies said Shephard’s claims that there was a child in the car were a ruse and there was no child found in the vehicle.

When asked whether Shephard had a gun, investigators would only say they were still processing the evidence.

Court records showcase Shephard has prior convictions for onslaught with a deadly weapon, escape while in custody, aggravated robbery and aggravated brunt.

Neither of the officers were injured. Houston police said the officers involved are L. Ingle and R. Gonzalez. Both have been with the department for six years.

An 18-year-old woman driving the SUV struck by Shephard’s car was a high school student on her way home from classes. She was pinned in the wreckage for a brief time.

Her brother, Lupe Pena, told KPRC two News, “I don’t see why it took them thirty minutes to stop a pursue that could have been stopped a long time before.”

An ambulance took her to East Houston Regional Medical Center where she was treated and released.

“I just want to thank God that my daughter is fine. They did CT scans and everything came out normal. So thank God she is fine,” said the doll’s mother, Angie Espino. “She is resting. That’s what they told her to do. She is resting she has a concussion to her head. A little bruise.”

The man and woman in the 2nd vehicle struck by Shephard were not hurt, but county investigators said the man driving the brown SUV was checked out at the scene by medics because of pre-existing medical conditions.

“You have three schools in this general area. You have one high school. You have an elementary. You have day care through the YMCA. And also an elementary school across the street. All converging in this area. This was a very fluid and very dangerous situation that the HPD had to deal with,” said Gilliland.

Galena Park ISD said North Shore Middle School and Havard Elementary School were temporarily on lockout status during the incident, but all has returned to normal. Parents with children in nearby schools can pick up their children as usual.

The intersection of Wallisville and Castlegory reopened late Wednesday afternoon after the investigation.

Related movie: