Evicted Houston Tenant Sets Fire to Building, Shoots Fleeing Residents.
- The suspect, believed to be a resident given an eviction notice, was among those killed after he was shot by a responding officer, the police chief says.
A man in Houston set fire to a building early Sunday and shot fleeing residents, killing three, before a police officer arrived on the scene and fatally shot the suspect, police said.
Media reports say two other residents were injured and all the victims of the shooting were males.
Houston Police Chief, Troy Finner said in a press conference that Investigators believe the shooter was a longtime resident of the building who may have been motivated by a recent eviction notice, and described the suspect as a man about 40 years old, dressed in black and armed with a shotgun.
“This suspect, unfortunately, and very sadly, and very evilly, set fire to several residents,” Finner said. The suspect then “laid in wait for those residents to come out and fired upon them,” he said.
“The suspect began to fire. I don’t know if he was firing in their direction, but they had to take cover,” Finner said.
The Police Chief said the first responders from the fire department retreated due to the shooting at the time they arrived before the officer who gunned the shooter down.
An officer, a 7-year veteran, engaged in gunfire with the suspect, who is now dead, Finner said. The officer is now on administrative leave, per department protocol.
“I’m very proud of him,” Finner said. “Who knows, that suspect probably would have tried to shoot somebody else.”
The alleged gunman was a longtime resident at the facility, the chief said but had recently received an eviction notice.
“That may have been a trigger point for him, I don’t know,” Finner said.
READ: Man Kills Son Then Commits Suicide Over ‘Wife’s Infidelity
The district attorney’s office is investigating the incident, and the Houston police department is conducting its own investigation, Finner said.
Source | Wapt
Leave a Reply