Southwest
Texas manhunt underway after detective is fatally 'ambushed,' sheriff's office says
A Texas detective was killed Thursday morning after he was ambushed while pursuing an aggravated assault suspect, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced. The suspect remains on the run and a manhunt is underway.
The unidentified detective was 28 years old and had been with the sheriff’s office for five years, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez on social media.
In a news conference early Thursday morning, HCSO Chief Deputy Mike Lee said the incident began around 10:10 p.m. on Wednesday when a call came in for an aggravated assault at the Little Caesars Pizza on Wallisville Road in northeast Houston.
An employee at the store was reportedly assaulted by a customer who came to the location to pick up a pizza and became upset when his order was wrong. The customer, who has not been identified, allegedly verbally assaulted the employee before pulling out a gun, pistol whipping them and fleeing in a vehicle.
SUSPECT KILLED AFTER STANDOFF FOLLOWING OHIO OFFICER’S DEATH
A 28-year-old detective with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office died early Thursday morning after he was ambushed while pursuing an aggravated assault suspect, according to the agency. (Harris County Sheriff’s Office)
The employee was able to provide police with the car’s make, model and license plate number, Lee said. Detectives and officers on patrol began looking for the vehicle and entered the license plate number into the city’s Flock camera system, where they were able to determine a specific location with a history of hits.
Several detectives went to that area to look for the vehicle, but broke away when they couldn’t find it, Lee said. One detective went back to the area and notified others that he had found the vehicle, but not the suspect, and he was setting up on the car.
Lee said there was some confusion with radio transmissions, but they knew he was having a phone conversation with another detective and, during that conversation, the detective was “apparently ambushed.”
Officers rushed to the location, which Gonzalez said was in the 13200 block of Italian Cypress Trail, and found the detective’s undercover vehicle riddled with bullets. The detective was struck multiple times and was in critical condition.
“Due to the severity of the injuries and the adjacent location of this hospital, they decided it was probably in the best interest not to wait for EMS, and they placed our deputy in one of our patrol vehicles and rushed him here to the emergency room where he succumbed to his gunshot wounds,” Lee said.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Lee said the 28-year-old detective was “apparently ambushed” after locating what he believed to be the vehicle belonging to an aggravated assault suspect. (Harris County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
The unidentified detective was a member of a “very elite task force,” according to Lee.
“This group, every day, goes out and hunts down child rapists, homicide suspects, some of the most egregious criminals out there and that’s what they do every day for a living,” Lee said. “And he was very good at his job. Very well thought of.”
REMEMBERING POLICE OFFICERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON DUTY LAST YEAR
As of Thursday morning, the suspect remains on the run, but Lee said law enforcement agencies have a “good idea” of who he is and have set up SWAT teams at two locations in efforts to apprehend him.
“I have no doubt between the forces of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Houston Police Department that we will have this suspect in custody in a very timely manner,” Lee said.
While his description is vague, the suspect is a Black male last seen wearing a hat and a black shirt with a jersey with unknown writing on it. His age is unknown.
Gonzalez expressed his “extreme sadness” on social media and said the department “will not rest” until the suspect is behind bars.
“None of us are ever prepared for such an untimely death and our members need your prayers and support. Our thoughts are with his family as they come to terms with this horrible news. An active investigation is underway to identify and apprehend his killer. We will not rest until we do!” he wrote on X.
The last Harris County deputy to be shot and killed was Deputy Sheriff Darren Almendarez on March 31, 2022, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
He was off duty when he confronted three people attempting to steal a catalytic converter, resulting in a struggle that ended in gunfire. Two of the suspects were shot, but survived.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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