A Prairie View A&M University student is dead after police said she was shot while trying to help her friend through a fight with her boyfriend early Thursday morning.
It happened at The Gates at Prairie View apartments at 625 Elm Street around 5:40 a.m. on Thursday.
“It was a wild scene, but we got everything under control,” Prairie View Police Officer Kalon Kitchen said.
The shots fired call was one of the first of the day for the small department, and police still do not know who fired which shots.
Of about 10 rounds fired, police said one bullet killed a 21-year-old and three others were injured.
According to police, a couple involved in a domestic violence situation elsewhere came to the apartments, where the woman tried to get help from her good friend.
“The friend came outside to try to help diffuse the situation. Things got heated. That friend went to get her boyfriend (to) come outside. The males were talking. Things continue to get heated again. And then that’s when shots were fired,” Ofc. Kitchen said.
Three people, both men and the woman seeking help, were injured and rushed to the hospital. One of the men had injuries in the upper chest and lower torso, another man was hit in the buttocks, and the woman was grazed in the head, police said. All three are expected to survive.
After the shooting, the couple involved in the initial domestic situation fled the scene but police quickly caught up with them several miles away. The boyfriend of the deceased victim stayed on scene and tried to render aid, according to police.
The shooting happened about a mile away from the university, where police have learned at least two of the four individuals involved were students.
“It is with heavy hearts that the Panther family mourns the loss of one of our students. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends in their time of grief. Student counseling services are available through the Department of Health Services to anyone needing emotional support during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for Prairie View A&M University wrote in a statement to KPRC 2.
Prairie View Police Chief Wilton White said through speaking with the mother of the deceased victim, he learned she was an honor roll student. He said her life was taken senselessly, as she tried to do good and help a friend.
“We have a wasted life for no reason. And I don’t know when it’s going to stop or when it’s going to end or what it’s going to take to end,” Chief White said. “It’s just a sad, sad situation that someone has to lose their life at such a young age.”
The Texas Rangers and Waller County Sheriff’s Office are helping with the investigation. So far, no one has been charged, but Chief White said a murder charge is “more than likely.”