BBQ fundraiser was held on Saturday to help the family of the Mesquite officer who was shot and killed in a grocery store parking lot four months ago
Mesquite, Texas – It’s been four months since Richard Houston, a Mesquite PD officer, was shot and killed in a shooting incident in a grocery store parking lot.
The local community and the Mesquite residents were nothing but devastated when it was confirmed the officer was shot to death.
In an effort to help and support his family, the locals gathered and attended a BBQ fundraiser over the weekend showing that his sacrifice is not forgotten.
“My first thought was, not Richard,” recalled Benny ‘Big Ben’ Bruner. “Just a great guy. Funny guy. Knew him and his wife, Shelley, before they ever got married, had the kids.”
According to Bruner, he met Houston more than three decades ago and speaking to the local station, he recalled a fishing trip they shared.
“The only thing we caught that day was a turtle,” he said. “Richard got it. I got a picture of him bent over in a boat holding that turtle.”
Bruner wants the keep the memory of his longtime friend alive, but he also organized the BBQ fundraiser to help and support Houston’s family. According to Bruner, a couple hundred people came at the event and donated money supporting Houston’s wife Shelley and three children.
Houston was dispatched to the scene to Albertson’s parking lot responding to a disturbance. The 37-year-old Jamie Jaramillo, who was reportedly caught in the middle of a love triangle by his wife, is accused of shooting death Houston last December. The suspect was later arrested.
Houston’s death was the first deadly shooting of an officer in Mesquite in the last 47 years.
The money raised will go to Houston’s family, who no longer have their loved one, but they have a community that cares about them and will never forget his sacrifice.