A gospel singer is dead after a deadly run in with Houston police during a traffic stop.
Adrian Medearis, 48, was pulled over on May 8 for going more than 90 mph around 1 a.m. An altercation broke out after an officer determined that he was possibly drunk and proceeded with a DUI arrest — as he was being cuffed from the ground, police say Medearis flipped the officer off of him.
During the struggle, the officer pulled out and fired his taser, but Medearis got a hold of it and that’s when the officer fired his gun, according to ABC 13 Houston. He was shot twice.
HPD Commanders are en route to the scene of an officer involved shooting at the North Freeway northbound feeder at Beltway following a traffic stop that began at 1:05 am. The suspect is en route to an area hospital. The officer is uninjured. A PIO is also en route. #hounews
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) May 8, 2020
“That suspect, during the struggle, was able to retrieve the officer’s Taser,” Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Matt Slinkard said. “The officer, still giving verbal commands, at some time during that struggle, once the suspect had the Taser, discharged his weapon several times.”
Medearis was transported to a hospital where he later died.
According to his family, he was “a talented gospel recording artist on the rise.” He directed the gospel choir at Evangelist Temple Church of God In Christ and was a former director for the Prairie View A&M Baptist Student Movement gospel choir. He also founded a contemporary gospel group called God’s Anointed People.
