NEW BOSTON — Police in a small northeastern Texas town have fatally shot a woman who was reported to them as possibly suicidal.

The shooting of 58-year-old Elizabeth Harris happened early Friday during a two-hour standoff with police at her home in New Boston, Texas, which is about 21 miles (34 kilometers) west of Texarkana, Texas.

New Boston police Capt. Chris Taillon says officers were answering a report of a suicidal person at the house about 11 p.m. Thursday when they were fired upon. A standoff ensued, during which the woman merged from the house at least twice more and fired at them again. Officers finally returned fire on the second occasion shortly after 1 a.m. Friday, killing Harris. No other injuries were reported.

Texas Rangers are investigating the handling of the incident.

 

Officer in struggle
had crisis training

BAYTOWN — State records show a Texas police officer who fatally shot a woman who authorities say shocked him with his Taser had completed dozens of hours of crisis intervention training before the deadly arrest attempt.

Baytown Officer Juan Delacruz completed a 16-hour crisis intervention course in 2013 and several similar trainings during his more than 13 years in law enforcement.

Police say Delacruz shot and killed Pamela Turner Monday after she used his Taser against him during a struggle. Turner’s family says she had paranoid schizophrenia, and that Delacruz was her neighbor and aware of her mental illness.

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records show Delacruz updated his Taser training in 2018.

Before joining the Baytown police in 2008, Delacruz spent nearly three years as a jailor for the Harris County Sheriff’s office.

 

United Airlines to
lay off 100 in Houston

HOUSTON — United Airlines says it will cut about 100 accounting jobs in Houston in July and shift the work to a contractor.

The airline reported the layoffs in a letter this week to the Texas Workforce Commission. It did not identify the contractor that will handle accounting of revenue from passengers.

A United spokeswoman said Friday the airline is providing job-search help. She says about 1,200 workers will remain in the downtown building to perform work in information technology, accounting and government affairs.

United has about 12,000 employees in Houston, including workers based at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Chicago-based United is the nation’s third-biggest airline by revenue behind American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. It’s the result of a 2010 merger with Continental Airlines, which was based in Houston.

 

Man in country illegally
charged with 11 murders

DALLAS — A Dallas man previously arrested in the death of an 81-year-old woman has been charged with killing at least 11 more elderly women whose jewelry and other valuables he stole, authorities said Thursday.

Kim Leach, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office, said 46-year-old Billy Chemirmir was indicted Tuesday on six more counts of capital murder in the deaths of women ranging in age from 76 to 94.

Chemirmir, a Kenyan citizen who was living in the U.S. illegally, also is charged in nearby Collin County with two counts of attempted capital murder for similar attacks there, according to county court records.

A Collin County grand jury also returned five capital murder indictments against Chemirmir on Tuesday.

 

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