Houston police officers reinstated from suspension after fatal 2020 shooting of man in 'mental crisis'

Four Houston police officers who had been suspended following the fatal 2020 shooting of a man in "mental crisis" have been reinstated, the department's chief announced.

One sergeant and three officers were indefinitely suspended in September 2020 after they fired their weapons 21 times at Nicolas Chavez, who was injured and on the ground after moving quickly toward them with a piece of metal in his hand, body camera footage showed.

Chavez, 27, was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time, according to police and 911 calls released following the April 2020 shooting. The officers appealed the decision to suspend them.

At a Monday news conference, Police Chief Troy Finner said the city was unable to prove each officer violated the policies cited in their suspensions. Therefore, the independent hearing examiner ruled the officers must be reinstated.

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Chavez's father, Joaquin Chavez, decried the decision to reinstate the officers at a Tuesday news conference.

"They killed a child, a man, a father, a son without any regard," he said. "And two years later, they get their jobs back. Where do we go from here? The only place we can go is to seek justice."

"I hurt every day," he added. "I lost a child that day."

While Finner said he was not "the final decision-maker" when the officers were suspended, he believes "there was evidence of policy violations."

"This is a difficult time for the Chavez family, our department and our community," Finner said.

Last year, a grand jury determined criminal charges were not warranted in the shooting, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. Art Acevedo, the police chief at the time, previously said the four officers had been fired, but Finner said they had only been indefinitely suspended.

The reinstated officers will receive backpay and additional training, Finner said.

"They've been away from the department for almost two years, and there will be reintegration training, also additional training just as any other officers who are involved in critical incidents," he said.

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In a statement to Paste BN, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he reviewed video of the shooting and "was disturbed by what I saw," adding, "Mr. Chavez’s family lost a loved one, and even though the hearing examiner has reinstated these officers, no one should be rejoicing under the circumstances."

On April 21, 2020, police received several 911 calls about "a man in an apparent mental crisis," later identified as Chavez, who was reported to be jumping in front of cars.

Bodycam footage showed officers telling Chavez, "Hey buddy, we're here to help you, man" during a 15-minute exchange . Chavez can be seen cursing at officers and flailing his arms and legs.

Officers fired bean-bag rounds at Chavez and used their tasers on him withlittle effect, Acevedo said at the time.

An officer can be heard saying Chavez had a knife before other officers tell him to put the knife down and stop cutting himself. Chavez was holding a piece of metal that he used to cut himself, investigators later found.

Acevedo said Chavez then began moving quickly toward officers, who fired three times at him.

Video footage showed Chavez, bleeding and injured from the gunfire, grab a stun gun dropped by officers. That's when the four officers fired their weapons, shooting him 21 times.

Acevedo said the stun gun was empty and both of its cartridges had been discharged. He said Chavez was not a threat to the officers.

"Quite frankly, it's inexplicable to me when they had plenty of opportunity to back up and continue to be doing what they were doing for them to stay the line and shoot a man 21 times," Acevedo said at the time. "I cannot defend that."

An autopsy showed Chavez had 29 entry and exit wounds.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Breaking News Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.