SUSPECT IN SHOOTING OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER RELEASED ON BOND

  

Update @ 3:05 p.m.: The suspect in the shooting of a volunteer firefighter in Waller County this past weekend has been released from jail.

The Waller County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this (Friday) afternoon that Joshua Michael Hahn was released Thursday evening on $100,000 bond.

Original Story @ 9:35 a.m.: The Waller County District Attorney’s Office calls the shooting death of an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter “totally unnecessary and criminal.”

Joshua Michael Hahn was booked Wednesday into the Waller County Jail for Manslaughter, accused of shooting and killing Douglas William Smith on Sunday.  Hahn remains in custody on $100,000 bond.

In a statement on social media Thursday, the District Attorney’s Office said many of its employees had known Smith “since he was a baby,” and that it would assist his family with getting any crime victim compensation benefits possible.

Smith, according to a GoFundMe page assisting with funeral expenses, was “actively involved” with the Tri-County Fire Department, which serves portions of Waller, Harris and Grimes counties.

Hahn is a deputy fire marshal for the University of Houston Fire Marshal’s Office.  According to his biography on the university’s website, Hahn joined the Fire Marshal’s Office as a deputy fire marshal in October 2018, and has been an 11-year veteran of the fire and EMS service.  His biography states he has been certified as a fire inspector, plans examiner, fire investigator and paramedic.  It also says he is a hazardous materials specialist, and holds certification as a forensic photographer and administrative trainer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Bomb-Making Materials Awareness program.  In addition, it states he is an active volunteer firefighter in Waller County.

Few details have been shared on the circumstances of the shooting, which occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday on Bowler Road in northern Waller County.  The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, which is conducting Smith’s autopsy, has ruled the manner of death to be a homicide, and the cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the head, neck and left shoulder.

According to the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, a second individual was also injured in the shooting, but no word has been given on that person’s condition.

The Sheriff’s Office said investigation is ongoing, and that additional charges are possible.