Texas inmate accused of grabbing deputy's gun, shooting him in the hand; charged with aggravated assault
Four members of the hospital staff came to the deputy's aid and helped apprehend the suspect
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A suspect who allegedly shot a sheriff's deputy in the hand during a struggle for the deputy's gun in a Texas hospital this week was charged Thursday with aggravated assault on a peace officer, according to police.
Thaddeus Lewis, 35, is accused of grabbing a Harris County sheriff's deputy’s weapon and firing it Wednesday while he was being escorted to the restroom on the fifth floor of Ben Taub Hospital in Houston. Lewis, a jail inmate, was brought there for a doctor’s appointment.
Four members of the hospital staff came to the deputy's aid and helped apprehend Lewis during the tussle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It could very well have escalated," a spokesman for the Houston Police Department said outside the hospital Wednesday. "That's why I want to commend the hospital staff for assisting in getting this inmate in custody."
The deputy, a 36-year veteran, was treated at the hospital. He suffered a severe gunshot wound to his left hand, with the bullet leaving both entry and exit wounds, a police spokesman said. He was in stable condition, police said in a release.
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Lewis was not injured in the struggle, according to FOX 26 of Houston.
Lewis was returned to the Harris County Joint Processing Center, police said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ben Taub Hospital is located inside Texas Medical Center, which bills itself as the "largest medical city in the world."
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.