Forum Post: Video of Houston police officers shooting an armed man in Tranquility Park

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/11/29/sotvo-occupy-houston-shooting.ktrk

Video has surfaced of Houston police officers shooting an armed man in a downtown park.

Police said 21-year-old Joshua Anthony Twohig was armed with a rifle and fired several shots inside Tranquility Park near an area where Occupy Houston protesters were gathered on November 21.

Houston police said they shot Twohig after attempts were made to have him drop his weapon. He suffered several gunshot wounds and was transported to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. Twohig is charged with aggravated assault against a public servant.

Bicycle officers A. Cantos and H. Lam said they were on patrol when they heard gunshots and saw Twohig standing on a bridge near the park's fountains and pond holding a weapon. When the officers approached the scene and told Twohig to drop his rifle, they said he fired his weapon into the pond and then gestered as if he was intending to commit suicide. Police said Twohig then screamed "shoot me, shoot me" toward the officers.

At about this point, police said a witness began recording video of the incident, which CNN obtained from a Houston TV station.

The video shows Twohig dressed in a suit holding a gun to his head. Officers are heard on the video shouting commands to Twohig before they shot him.

CNN affiliate KTRK reports it spoke with Twohig's family after the incident. They did not want to comment about the shooting and told KTRK not to contact them again. KTRK said the name of an attorney for Twohig has not been released at this point.

"We don't know his motives - that being said, he was not a member of the Occupy movement that we know of," Occupy Houston protester Dustin Phipps told KTRK.

"I'm glad that the gentleman did not point his gun at all these innocent people here," witness David Loeser told KTRK.