KATY, Texas – The teen who died in a shooting in west Harris County on Tuesday was a former student at Cypress Lakes High School.
Deputies with Harris County Sheriff’s Office received reports about a shooting in the 5800 block of Brenwood Trails Lane, and this prompted multiple Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District campuses to go into “Secure the Building” mode.
When authorities arrived at the scene, they saw a group gathering around the location.
Investigators said the victim, identified as 17-year-old Jake Mason was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mason was at Cypress Lakes High School waiting to pick up his girlfriend who was a student. He was a former student and officially left in September.
Deputies said Mason was with “an unidentified group of males” when an altercation occurred.
KPRC’s Re’Chelle Turner spoke briefly to the victim’s family, who was too distraught to say anything and asked for privacy.
“At this time, I want to give my condolences to the family members who lost a loved one today, “Major Saul Suarez said.
KPRC 2 spoke to students who were shaken up by the violence, hitting close to the school and the Christmas holiday.
“I think it’s crazy and unnecessary. It doesn’t even have to go this deep,” one student said.
Update: the victim has been identified as Jake Mason (17). Our condolences go out to the family. The victim was at the location waiting to pick up his girlfriend who is a student at the school. Jake was with a group of unidentified males when an altercation occurred
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) December 20, 2023
1/2 https://t.co/jArLgKQB41
Four people of multiple ages were detained. It’s unclear if they are students at Cypress Lakes High School.
Deputies said they were looking for a suspect, possibly a juvenile wearing all black. Investigators believe he fled in a black four-door vehicle.
“Please come forward we want to talk to you and determine what happened so we can get to the bottom of this,” Major Saul Suarez said.
Cypress Lakes High School, McFee Elementary School, and Emery Elementary School were in “Secure the Building” mode as authorities conducted an investigation. The order was lifted at 12:15 p.m.
12:15 p.m. update: Secure the Building Mode has been lifted for Cypress Lakes HS, McFee ES, and Emery ES. pic.twitter.com/bsv23X67rF
— Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (@CyFairISD) December 19, 2023
Deputies are interviewing witnesses and canvassing the area for surveillance video.
Over the weekend, HCSO and the Houston Police Department responded to violent incidents involving teenagers.
“We don’t want to remind the community that if you have any type of issues or concerns to not resort to violence. There are other ways to solve conflict and we see multiple times in this particular case to a weapon and it turns into a homicide or violent crime situation. Please try to solve your issues or crimes without violence,” Major Suarez said.
If you know anything about the shooting, call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.