A man shot by a Corpus Christi police officer was not involved in a pair of robberies at a nearby convenience store.
CCPD Chief Mike Markle provided the update Tuesday night, hours after the shooting on the 200 block of Torreon Street. Just before the incident, officers were looking for two suspects involved in two separate robberies at the Hi-Ho Store in the 3900 block of Baldwin Blvd.
Chief Markle says officers approached a man who fit the description of one of the suspects and began talking to him. At one point, the man was reportedly hiding his hands and officers asked him to show them. According to Markle, the man did not initially comply.
When he finally showed his hands, the chief says there was an item in his hand that was mistaken for a weapon. It was actually a lighter of some kind. An officer then fired shots and hit him in the arm. Chief Markle says that the man’s injuries are not life threatening. He called the incidents “a very unfortunate chain of events,” adding that his officers were searching for armed suspects with a “heightened sense of alertness.”
“I did want to make clear that this individual turned out to not be one of the suspects involved in the robberies. I think it’s very important that we clarify that. I don’t want — and so does the family — want the neighbors thinking this individual was involved in something he was not. He was at his own address,” Markle said.
The chief also said that the two suspects involved in the robberies were arrested a short time later. He said they had not been booked into jail as of Tuesday night so he did not release their names.
Meanwhile, Chief Markle met with family members of the man who was shot. They told him that he remains in the hospital and is waiting on a specialist to treat his injuries.
The officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave as CCPD continues its investigation.
