A 31-year-old Houston Police Department officer has been accused of shooting his wife in the face with a rifle while off duty in northwest Houston, according to HPD Chief Troy Finner, who announced the officer’s arrest at a press conference on Monday.
Galib Waheed Chowdhury, a patrol officer, was charged with aggravated assault of a family member with serious bodily injury.
Chowdhury, who had worked for two years on the force, was arrested and relieved of duty.
Finner said police received a call slightly after midnight alerting officers to a shooting at an apartment at 10333 Clay Road. Officers found a 30-year-old woman who had been shot in the face. They suspected the shooter was her husband — an off-duty HPD officer.
“She underwent surgery and hopefully, and we pray, she’s gonna be all right and make a full recovery,” Finner said, noting that police have spoken with the woman’s mother.
Finner declined to answer questions about Chowdhury’s record of service and any past suspensions, saying that “we know we don’t know at this time.” Chowdhury was assigned to HPD’s northwest patrol division.
Finner noted there was a delay in obtaining a warrant and that a review was “going to be part of the investigation.”
“It’s never easy to stand before you,” Finner said. “Domestic violence is very serious in our community and also around the nation, and we stand here at HPD to do everything that we can to prevent that.”
The shooting is being investigated by the HPD special investigations unit, internal affairs division and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.