Harris County deputy shot in Humble-area gunfight, bodycam footage released

Body camera footage released June 23 showed Harris County Precinct 4 deputy Dante Zepeda being shot during a gunfight outside Pavilion at the Groves apartments in Humble. The shooting happened shortly after 10 p.m. on June 19 in the 15900 block of Woodland Hills Drive after multiple callers reported a man walking through the complex with a shotgun and firing it.

The footage shows deputies outside an apartment building near a stairwell with guns drawn as the first shots rang out. Officers can be heard shouting, “Shots fired!” In a clip from Zepeda’s perspective, he asks whether the suspect was at the window, then falls forward after being hit, quickly regains his footing and appears to return fire while retreating to cover.

Two deputies were struck by shotgun pellets or projectiles after they located the suspect and were ambushed. Zepeda was hit in the hip and upper arm, first taken to Houston Northeast Hospital and then transferred to Memorial Hermann’s surgical trauma center in downtown Houston. A second deputy was struck as well, stayed on perimeter during the standoff and was later treated and released.

Deputies identified the suspect as Edgar Villegas, 38. He barricaded himself in an apartment, prompting SWAT to breach the door, use technology to locate him inside and deploy CS gas before he surrendered. A police K-9 bit Villegas during his arrest, and he was held at a local hospital for treatment. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office accepted a felony charge of aggravated assault on a public servant, and he remained charged with aggravated assault on a police officer.

Zepeda’s surgery was successful and he was released from the hospital by June 22. Constable Mark Herman called that release a “milestone” and asked the community to keep Zepeda and his family in their thoughts. No residents or bystanders were injured.