Well-dressed gunman shatters Occupy Houston Tranquility

Well-dressed gunman shatters Occupy Houston's Tranquility: Fires up to 15 rounds, points weapon at female protestor

CALLS HIMSELF A "WHITE KNIGHT"

By Tyler Rudick
11.21.11 | 10:55 pm


Violence broke out at Occupy Houston's Tranquility Park site Monday evening. A gunman armed with a .40-caliber rifle shot approximately 15 rounds into the air and into the park's fountains before being shot twice by Houston Police officers patrolling the area. He was taken into custody.

Witnesses say the gunman — a twentysomething male in a dark suit with a white shirt — entered the park through a stairwell at Bagby and Rusk. Walking towards the Occupy Houston site, the man fired several rounds towards the sky and started heading towards the fountains.

Several protestors approached nearby police officers, who initially thought the gunman was only armed with a toy. When bullets started splashing in the fountains, police realized the man was using a real weapon and began to circle the shooter.

The gunman walked onto the metal catwalk that crosses the park fountains when an officer on a bike fired several shots, two of which hit the gunman below the waist. There was some speculation among Occupy Houston protestors that Houston Police Department officers were using rubber bullets, but the HPD says its officers fired real ammunition. The HPD also says the shooter was a 21-year-old with a Houston address but provided no further details on his identity.

"The man pointed his gun at a young lady [from the catwalk], she's a regular occupier, but he didn't fire at her," said protestor Benjamin Franklin Rendon, who says that another occupier was trying to calm the gunman at the time as well.

"He started waving the gun around randomly and then turned towards the cops, at which point he was shot twice," Rendon says. According to authorities, the gunman was carried away fully conscious and responsive.

"I don't think he really wanted to hurt anybody," said eyewitness protestor Capital Baker. "He was aiming all over, but nowhere too specific . . . until he pointed it at the girl."

Numerous rumors circulated in the hour after the shooting, putting everyone in the park on edge. Several occupiers heard there were two additional "well-dressed men" on the Rusk side of the park. Another protestor says that the gunman mumbled a phrase about "being a White Knight for Occupy Houston."

The gunman appeared visibly unstable to most eyewitnesses, one of whom noted that he had a "crazy look in his eyes."