Houston police officer Galib Chowdhury, who is accused of shooting his wife in the face, has been fired by the city.
Chowdhury has been charged with aggravated assault of a family member and causing critical injuries. He was arrested after it was suspected that he shot his wife in their apartment in northwestern Harris County.
Investigators believe that he shot his wife in the face and hand when they were arguing. After he shot her, he called 911 and told them that he accidentally shot her due to a break-in into their apartment.
When officers arrived at the scene, the paramedics brought his wife to the hospital where she had to have emergency surgery.
Chowdhury had shot her in her right eyeball, which cause a cheekbone fracture and caused fractures in her hand after he shot her for a second time.
When investigators searched the scene for evidence, they did not find evidence that backs up his claim that there was a break-in. They did find the rifle that Chowdhury used to shoot her. There also is evidence of “angry” texts he sent her before the shooting.
His wife is backing up his story, saying that the shooting was accidental. She refused to speak with police officers at the hospital.
After being arrested, Chowdhury was sent to jail and his bond was set at $125,000. When he went back to court, the judge ordered that he use a GPS monitor as a condition of his bond.
The Houston Police Department posted a video on Twitter from their media briefing. They spoke about the details of the case that they are allowed to release.
“When officers arrived at that apartment they came up on a female that was, that sustained a gunshot wound to the face. Shortly thereafter officers termed that it was an off-duty HP officer. That officer is assigned to the Northwest division. He’s 31 years old, and has two years of service. I will not be releasing the names at this time. We are actively filing charges.”
The incident occurred on June 12, and Chowdhury was relieved of duty but wasn’t fired until last week. They could not fire Chowdhury immediately due to a law that an officer who has been charged with a crime must be given 48 hours notice in advance before terminating them
In the video, Houston Police said they would update the case with the name of the perpetrator, which they did later that day.
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A tweet from the department read: “ARRESTED: Galib Waheed Chowdhury, 31, is charged with aggravated assault of a family member with serious bodily injury in the shooting of his wife. Chowdhury, an off-duty HPD officer at the time of the shooting, is relieved of duty.”
On June 14, Chowdhury arrived at court for his arraignment. TV reporter Jason Miles captured the moment of Chowdhury walking into court with his lawyer and posted the video on Twitter. He captioned the video, “Just now: HPD officer Galib Chowdhury arrives in court with attorney and family for arraignment. He’s charged with shooting his wife in the face during the incident early Monday AM. He’s relieved of duty and facing termination.”
