A Harris County Precinct 5 corporal was shot and killed on January 23 during a traffic stop in Houston, according to WFAA News.
Corporal Charles Galloway was fatally shot during a traffic stop in the 9100 block of Beechnut. Galloway had pulled a white, newer model, 4-door Toyota Avalon over at about 12:45 a.m.
Witnesses said the driver of the Avalon got out of his vehicle and fired multiple shots at Galloway’s patrol vehicle before driving away from the scene. The suspect remains at large, and the Houston Police Department is now handling the investigation.
Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner described the shooting as “senseless” during a press conference and added that the suspect must have used an assault-type weapon. Finner revealed that the suspect started shooting at the deputy before he could get out of his car.
Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap agreed with Finner while adding that Galloway did not have time to respond or defend himself against the suspect’s attack.
“When somebody decides to engage and take the life of a police officer because of a routine traffic stop, then I think we have a breakdown in how society is supposed to be,” Heap told WFAA News.
Chief Finner sent out a message to the suspect saying the best thing he could do was turn himself in peacefully.
Heap also added that these incidents are becoming regular in Harris County and need to stop.
“We have got to put an end to this,” Heap said. “I don’t want to raise my family, my grandchildren, in a county where this type of crime is running rampant.”
Corporal Charles Galloway had been with the department for over twelve years. Heap said the men and women who served with Galloway loved him.
Galloway joined the Harris County Precinct 5 in 2009 and had worked in many aspects of the patrol division. He was recently assigned to the toll road division and switched to night shifts to be a field training officer, mentoring young officers in safety and efficiency.
Heap revealed that many of those officers were upset by Galloway’s loss because they had grown close with him after they spent so much time together during training.
“He was the one teaching them what to do and how to get home safely to their families and here we are this evening with the roles reversed,” Heap said.
Galloway, 47, is survived by his daughter and sister.
