The Houston Police Department is looking into what happened after a man with a knife was shot and killed by an officer on Saturday.
The incident took place in northeast Houston in the 100 block of Palmyra Street.
The 65-year-old man was reportedly upset because a college graduation party across the street was playing loud music.
“Every time he heard a noise, he would get mad,” said Angel Martinez, a plumber who has rented the man a shack behind his shop for several years. “He’d go over there and ask him to turn off the music.”
Martinez says the man had some problems with his mind. He recently went to jail for threatening a neighbor, according to court records.
Martinez says that he has been trying to get his roommate mental health help for more than a year. He has even talked to the man’s lawyer about it.
“I told his lawyer that he did not need to go to jail. He said, “He needed help to get to the hospital.
Neighbors say that the graduation party was loud, but that’s not uncommon for big events. “They had drums, and they were too loud, but we couldn’t say anything,” said Enedelia Martinez, who lived across the street. “They were my next-door neighbors.”
“We usually have loud music around here,” said Penelope Medellin, another neighbor. “I like it, but I guess some people might have trouble with it.”
Police in Houston say the man first went to the house and told the owner to turn down the music. Then, the man’s neighbors called the cops, and he came back with a knife.
According to reports, the man wouldn’t put down the knife and moved toward the cops, which caused them to fire.
Martinez, the owner, says he tried to get his tenant to stay home so that a tragedy wouldn’t happen, but it didn’t work.
“I told him to calm down because he had just gotten out of jail. You want to turn around?’ He told her that he didn’t want to live anymore.”
As part of the investigation, HPD is scheduled to release footage from body cameras within 30 days.
