Three people were wounded in passing vehicles before police confronted the accused man, who was critically injured by officers.
HOUSTON — A 45-year-old Houston man faces seven felony aggravated assault charges after police say he fired a rifle at passing vehicles, wounded three people and then raised the weapon toward officers during an Aug. 14 confrontation in northeast Houston.
Demetri O’Neal Thomas has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Houston Police Department. The charges follow a shooting along North Wayside Drive that injured a woman, her daughter and a third person. Three Houston officers and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper later shot Thomas after police say he ignored orders to drop his rifle and raised it toward them.
The incident began around 11 a.m. when Houston police received multiple calls about someone firing at vehicles in the North Wayside Drive area near St. Louis Street. Police said three vehicles were hit by gunfire. The three people who were wounded were traveling in two of those vehicles, while a person in a third vehicle was not injured.
A woman and her daughter were together in one of the vehicles that came under fire, authorities said. Another person was wounded in a separate vehicle. Two of the three wounded people were transported to a hospital, and police reported that all three were in stable condition. Their names were not released in the reports reviewed for this story.
People working near the scene also tried to keep other drivers away from the danger. A nearby Chicken Plus employee identified by FOX 26 as David said he and his coworkers attempted to stop motorists from driving toward the armed man. His account provided an early view of the threat to drivers before police reached the area.
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper was among the first law enforcement personnel to reach the scene and was directed toward the suspected shooter by people in the area, police said. Houston police officers arrived shortly afterward and found Thomas armed with a rifle on the front porch of a home on St. Louis Street.
Authorities said the officers repeatedly directed Thomas to drop the rifle. Police said he did not follow those commands and later raised the weapon. Three Houston officers and the DPS trooper then fired, striking Thomas multiple times. None of the law enforcement officers was injured.
Officers provided first aid to Thomas after the shooting until Houston Fire Department paramedics arrived. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Police1 reported Sept. 14, when Houston police released body-camera footage of the encounter, that Thomas remained in critical condition.
The body-camera release added visual documentation to an incident that had initially been described through police briefings, witness accounts and news reports. The footage shows officers confronting Thomas and issuing commands before the shooting, according to Houston police. Its release came about a month after Assistant Chief Yasar Bashir said the department planned to make footage from the involved city officers public under department policy.
The criminal case against Thomas is separate from the reviews of the officers’ use of force. Houston police said the shooting involving officers is being investigated by the department’s Homicide Division Special Investigations Unit and Internal Affairs Division, along with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Those reviews are part of the process following police shootings.
Authorities have not released a confirmed motive for why the passing vehicles were targeted. The seven charges against Thomas remain allegations, and the available reports do not establish how or when the criminal case will proceed while he remains hospitalized.
Author note: Last updated September 15, 2026.