1 Houston police officer killed, 1 injured in copter crash

A Houston police helicopter crashed early Saturday, killing one of the two officers on board and critically injuring the other, officials said.

A pilot and tactical flight officer were aboard a police helicopter when it crashed at an apartment complex around 2 a.m.

They were flown to a hospital where the tactical flight officer died, police Chief Art Acevedo said hours after the crash during a news conference where he was joined by the city's mayor, Sylvester Turner.

The pilot was still in surgery and was very banged up, but police were hopeful he would survive, Acevedi said, noting that investigators still didn't know what caused the crash.

There were no injuries to anyone on the ground at the apartment complex, a masked Acevedo told reporters.

The helicopter was supposed to assist with a search for bodies in a nearby bayou, which was prompted by a tip that the police chief characterized as probably a bogus call we don't know."
And if somebody had told me that a few hours later that we had an aircraft down and we'd lose a really good man, I would have said 'No way.'
Turner, the mayor, called on the people of the city "to continue to lift up, number one, both families, but especially lift up the family of the police officer who has died this morning. And then at the same time lift up the entire HPD family."