HOUSTON – An investigation is underway after a man was fatally shot while trying to stop five suspects that were looking into vehicles in a southwest Houston neighborhood Friday, officers with the Houston Police Department said.
HPD units responded to reports of a shooting in the 4800 block of Beechaven Street around 1:45 a.m.
Police said when they arrived at the scene, a 30-year-old man was located laying at the front of his residence with a gunshot wound. Officers said they attempted to perform CPR but the man was pronounced dead by emergency officials with the Houston Fire Department.
According to investigators, a silver sedan parked in a parking spot, and five suspects wearing hoods, some masked, got out and started checking car doors. Det. B. Stephens with the homicide division said the men appeared to be between 19-years-old to their early 20’s.
“Their intentions were clear to be burglaries of vehicles,” Stephen’s said. “Walking up and down the street tugging on vehicles.”
Police said the victim’s girlfriend was in a bedroom with her children when she told the victim that the suspects were attempting to steal her vehicle in the driveway.
The man came out of his residence to confront the suspects. Police said the man got into his vehicle and drove around the block, looking for the suspects. When he returned, officers said he drove a little past his residence near the suspects’ vehicle.
At that time, investigators said a suspect or multiple suspects got out of the silver sedan and began shooting toward the victim in his car. The victim was reportedly hit and tried running back towards his residence, where police said he collapsed. The suspects ran off on foot, leaving the silver sedan at the scene, officers said. Investigators are working to determine whether the car might have been stolen.
Three children were also inside the home at the time of the shooting. They weren’t harmed, HPD said. Neighbors say the victim’s girlfriend was also pregnant.
Anyone with information on the suspects in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600 or speak anonymously with Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.