Suspect's last words before HPD officer pulls trigger in north Houston gas station: 'Shoot me'

A man repeatedly asked officers to shoot him before one of them did, according to newly released body and dashcam video.

Police were called to a gas station in the 5700 block of the North Freeway on Aug. 7 for reports of two men trespassing.

They later discovered one of the men, 42-year-old Edmundo Meza, had warrants out for his arrest for traffic tickets.

The video shows Officer Jillian McGowan checking Meza's pockets before she realizes he has a gun.

"Put your hands behind your back. Don't move!" McGowan can be heard saying. "He's got a gun, he's got a gun!"

Meza repeatedly denies having a gun, although, after the shooting, officers retrieve one from his waistband.

Meza and both officers fall to the ground, and a struggle ensues.

McGowan repeatedly threatens to shoot Meza.

"I will shoot you. I will shoot you. Don't you (expletive) move!" McGowan said.

At this point, the officer has her gun lodged in Meza's stomach, and his arms are being pinned to the ground.

He continues resisting and repeatedly encourages McGowan to shoot him.

"I'd rather die than go to jail. 'Shoot me! Shoot me!'" he said.

It's at that point McGowan opens fire. The bullet pierces Meza's lungs and liver. He's pronounced dead at the hospital an hour later.

In a news release, HPD said Meza had "attempted to move his hands toward the pistol."

"I didn't see where he reached for a weapon," former Texas Rangers Chief Tony Leal said after reviewing the video.

But Leal said he can't say whether or not the shooting was justified without hearing from the officers involved.

"Was it an intentional shooting, or was it, in fact, an accidental discharge of a weapon during the struggle?" he said.

These are questions that won't be answered until HPD and the district attorney's office complete their investigations.

It's at least the second time McGowan has fatally shot someone during her career.

Two years after she joined HPD in 2012, she shot and killed Rufino Lara while investigating an assault.

Police said Lara turned around with his hands tucked in his shirt and that McGowan thought he had a gun. It turned out to be a can of beer.

HPD didn't get its first body cameras until December 2013, but the shooting was later ruled justified.

Whether or not Meza's shooting is justified, Leal said he's disturbed by McGowan's threats to shoot the suspect.

"Those threats can escalate a situation as did the suspect with his threats of, 'Shoot me. If you shoot me, you better kill me,'" Leal said.

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