Police Chief: Evidence Doesn't Support FBI Statement On Shooting

HOUSTON, TX -- A forensic investigation conducted by the Houston Police Department does not corroborate the statements of an FBI agent who shot and killed a man during a botched rescue operation in January, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Wednesday.

"The evidence does not support the statements that he made," he said.

Acevedo gave an update to the shooting during a press conference and said the evidence from their investigation, which was completed in April, and submitted their findings to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorneys Office, and the Office of Inspector General, Acevedo said.

Valladares, 47, was shot and killed during a botched FBI raid on a northeast Houston home on Jan. 25 that was supposed to free the widowed father.

According to the FBI agent's account, agents were breaching through a back window, while agents tossed flashbangs inside. The agent originally said he was using a tool to break out a back window to get inside, but dropped it inside the home.

The agent originally said another agent began using his rifle to break the glass after the tool was dropped inside the home, and that someone inside grabbed the barrel and began pulling the weapon.

The agent said he feared having his weapon taken from him by someone inside the home, and fired two rounds.

When agents got inside the home, they found Valladares wounded. He died a short time later at an area hospital.

Valladares was kidnapped the day before from his home in the 1700 block of Tyler Lane in Conroe by Jimmy Tommy Sanchez and Nicholas Cunningham, and taken to 7322 Elbert Road in northeast Houston, where Cunningham's girlfriend, Sophia Perez Heath, 35.

Sanchez and Cunningham were arrested in Webster before the raid, and are in the Montgomery County Jail charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery.

Heath is also in the Montgomery County Jail, and is charged with aggravated kidnapping.

FBI officials have not released any information on their investigation, and according to a spokesperson, nothing will be released at this time.

Acevedo said any prosecution in this case would be done through the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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