Police Brutality / Individual record
Peter Gaines
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Peter Gaines in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-03-12 in Houston, TX. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-381
- Incident date
- March 12, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Houston, TX
- Agency
- Houston Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 37
What happened
Peter Gaines, 35, was unarmed when Houston police Officer Kory Levi shot and killed him on March 12, 2016, near the Eastex Freeway and Collingsworth intersection. Police initially responded to reports of Gaines damaging a traffic sign. Investigators said Gaines acted erratically and did not obey attempts to keep his distance; Levi deployed his Taser twice before using his handgun. Friends of Gaines disputed that lethal force was necessary, emphasizing that he had no weapon and the officer was not injured. The cause of Gaines's behavior, including early suggestions of drug use, was not established by the initial report. The shooting raised questions about why police escalated to gunfire during a disturbance that began with property damage.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1357
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- unarmed
- Flee status (source)
- foot
- Agency IDs (source)
- 102
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset