Competency hearing rescheduled for Brownsville library shooter

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The man accused of shooting a man at a Brownsville public library has been granted another competency hearing for next year.

Humberto Paz is charged in the murder of 71-year-old Vahid Khaledi, who he allegedly shot point blank in the head and killed on May 11 at the library, located on the 2600 block of Central Boulevard.

Police said there was a verbal altercation between the two men before the shooting. When authorities arrived at the scene, Khaledi was unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead.

As previously reported, ValleyCentral spoke with witnesses of the shooting who stated Paz was a regular at the library and often spoke frantically while pretending to be on the phone.

Additionally, a search into Paz’s background revealed his service in the U.S. Army Reserve between 2008 and 2016.

Abril Luna, Public Information Officer for the Brownsville Police Department, said Paz has suffered from mental health problems in the past, but that there were never any indications of threats being made.

On Nov. 21, Paz’s attorneys spoke with the judge and asked that he be evaluated again by a psychiatrist to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial. The judge granted Paz and his legal team until Dec. 9 to be reevaluated by a doctor and come back to court for another status hearing.

On Dec. 9 an appointment was scheduled with another doctor to examine Paz.

His next competency hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025. Paz remains jailed on a $3.7M bond.