Houston Police released identities of the pair suspects who fired bullets and injured five undercover cops during a gun battle at a suspected drug house in the city's southeast side.
The two suspects who were shot and killed during the raid were identified as 58-year-old Rhogena Nicholas and 59-year-old Dennis Tuttle.
Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said officers raided the Harding Street residence in the Gloverdale neighborhood as part of a drug investigation. He said that when the officers entered the home, they were met by an aggressive dog, which was shot by one officer.
The chief said that Tuttle walked out of a back room in the home and used a .357 revolver to start shooting at the officers.
The five, four of whom were shot, were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. One, who was shot in the shoulder, was released Monday night.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, Dr. Michelle McNutt, chief of trauma surgery at Memorial Hermann, said she was only allowed to discuss the conditions of three. The family of one of the officers who was shot requested that the hospital not disclose any information on him.
She said of the two officers wounded in the face, one was sent to the operating room Monday night and will require more facial surgery. That officer is 54 and a 32-year veteran. The other, a 50-year old officer, is expected to be released today.
Acevedo said people who live in the neighborhood were the ones who reported drug activity at the home, which prompted the investigation and the search warrant that was being served Monday.
"We're not going to talk about their criminal histories," Acevedo said. "That's part of the investigation."
Acevedo made a plea for lawmakers to do something about the prevalence of guns in the country. “Crooks are going to be crooks. The question is, what are we in society and what our elected officials, going to do,” he said in a January 29 press conference.
