Galveston police: Officer who fatally shot teen as he ran away is 8-year-veteran

A statement released Wednesday identified Derrick Jaradi as the officer involved in the shooting of 18-year old Luis Argueta.

Jaradi, 30, has been with the Galveston Police Department since June 2016 and has a total of eight years of law-enforcement experience in the Houston area. The department said Jaradi had not been involved in a police shooting before this incident nor had he been disciplined while serving with the agency.

The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting along with county prosecutors, said that Jaradi and another officer reported observing a suspicious vehicle early Monday morning in the parking lot of Sonny’s Convenience Store, located at 51st and Broadway.

The officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle sped away, authorities said. When the vehicle stopped on the 5300 block of Avenue L, Argueta fled on foot and into a vacant lot. After Jaradi issued verbal commands for Argueta to stop, the officer fired two rounds from his service weapon, striking the teenager.

Argueta was transported to UTMB Hospital, where he died from his wounds around 3:40 a.m.

The sheriff’s office has said a weapon was found at the scene, but Argueta’s girlfriend told the Houston Chronicle on Monday that he had left it in the vehicle. A city police spokesman on Monday declined to comment on where the weapon was found.

Sheriff Henry Trochesset declined to say whether the weapon recovered belonged to Argueta or was recovered on his person after the shooting, but confirmed that Luna was in the car with Argueta when he fled the traffic stop.

It is not yet clear what suspicious activity Jaradi and the other officer observed that led them to stop Argueta at the convenience store parking lot.

Officer Jaradi remains on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.com