Two Houston-area cops killed within 24 hours

Two Harris County deputies were killed within 24 hours of each other this weekend, marking one of the deadliest time spans for cops in the Houston area since late 2019. Around 12:45 a.m. Sunday, a driver gunned down Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office Corporal Charles Galloway in the 9100 block of Beechnut as the lawman attempted a traffic stop. Galloway had yet to get out of his patrol SUV before shots rang out. The shooter managed to escape. Houston police, who are investigating the shooting, did not have an update Monday morning.

In a dire twist of fate, around the same time Monday morning a driver hit and killed Harris County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ramon Gutierrez as he was escorting an oversized load along the East Sam Houston Parkway near Tidwell Road. Gutierrez had positioned his police motorcycle to block an exit ramp as he, while on foot, directed traffic. Investigators allege 40-year-old driver Lavillia Spry was intoxicated when she drove around the motorcycle and hit Gutierrez before fleeing. Other law enforcement officers who were also escorting the load chased Spry, who eventually stopped a mile away near the intersection of Van Hut and Hunters Field lanes — just around the corner from her home, court records show. She's been booked in Harris County on charges of failure to stop and render aid, evading arrest and intoxication manslaughter. Purported footage of the woman's car shot by OnScene.TV shows it had a damaged bumper and headlight. Gutierrez left behind a wife and three children, one of whom is supposed to be married in the coming months, according to Gonzalez. "A father won't be there to walk his daughter down the aisle," he said tearfully during a press conference Monday. "You can't put a price on that."