Houston police release video of deadly Sam's Club shootout on East Freeway

Houston police body-camera video released Friday gives the clearest public view yet of how a deadly confrontation unfolded inside a Sam’s Club on the East Freeway, where officers say a suspect exchanged gunfire with police after first shooting at employees in the parking lot and store.

The shooting happened around 11:12 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at the Sam’s Club at 13600 East Freeway near Uvalde Road in East Houston. Police said the confrontation began outside, where the suspect was vandalizing and breaking into vehicles before employees confronted him. Officers said the suspect then shot at the workers, followed them back into the store and traded gunfire with police. No officers or store employees were injured.

ABC13 identified the suspect as Obed Flores Trujillo and reported that he appeared to have been dressed as a security guard. The new footage shows officers moving through the store toward an office where Trujillo had barricaded himself, repeatedly ordering him to surrender. The window of the office was already shattered by bullet holes when officers arrived, and the video appears to show Trujillo firing at least one shot toward police. Officers returned fire. After one exchange, the video shows a pause, then another burst of gunfire moments later.

When officers opened the office door, they found Trujillo had been shot multiple times and immediately began medical aid. He later died. ABC13 also reported that social media posts appearing to be from his family in Mexico suggested they were searching for him after the April 25 shooting, not knowing what had happened.

The release comes as Houston police continue to face questions about how quickly a parking-lot dispute escalated into a fatal shooting inside a busy retail store. The case is being investigated by the Houston Police Department Homicide Special Investigations Unit, the Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Walmart, which operates Sam’s Club, said safety and security of members and associates is its top priority and that it would keep cooperating with investigators.

The video release also fits HPD’s critical-incident policy, adopted in January 2022, which calls for public release of video tied to officer-involved shootings and officer-involved civilian deaths. Houston leaders said in 2021 that body-camera footage in officer-involved shootings with injury or death would be released within 30 days, and HPD said in January 2024 that it had released 83 critical-incident videos since that standard took effect.

The Sam’s Club closed Sunday, April 26, and reopened Monday, April 27, but the larger public reckoning is still playing out. For Harris County, the footage adds detail, but it also leaves open the hard questions that follow any shooting in a crowded commercial corridor: how the response unfolded, what security failed, and how a shopping trip on the East Freeway turned deadly in seconds.