Gerald Hanks
In an eerie parallel to this weekend’s incident in Las Vegas, Houston police officials released bodycam footage depicting a mass shooting in the city’s southwest suburbs from September 2016.
Videos by Rare
The video shows officers from the West University Police Department, a suburb within the southwest corner of Loop 610 near Rice University, as they confront a disturbed shooter.
“He’s behind a tree,” one officer can be heard calling out during the footage. “You’ve got a good angle. He’s peeking. He’s peeking out right now.”
The footage shows Nathan Desai, 46, of Bellaire, as he stood in the middle of the block and fired at passing vehicles on the quiet suburban street. The video also shows officers from nearby departments in Houston and Bellaire responding to the calls about an active shooter. Desai wounded ten people, including at least one officer, but none of the shots were fatal.
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The officers eventually cornered and fatally wounded Desai. They found him carrying a laser-sighted rifle and wearing a replica World War II Nazi SS uniform. Officers approached with caution, fearing Desai was still alive and possibly armed with an explosive device ready to detonate.
“He may have a bomb in there,” an officer said.
They later searched his car, where they found over 2,600 rounds of ammunition.
“Black (Porsche) boxster loaded with ammo and weapons,” an officer remarked over police radios heard in the footage.
They also found Nazi propaganda in both Desai’s car and his house. He was an attorney whose law practice was failing.
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