HOUSTON – Mayor John Whitmire and Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced the arrests of a road rage shooting suspect and another suspect involved in a separate shooting on Wednesday.
The incidents occurred at 7001 West Gulf Bank Rd. on Jan. 20 and in the 7600 block of Southwest Freeway (South U.S. Highway 59) on Jan. 26.
- ORIGINAL REPORT: 3 teens shot while riding down Southwest Freeway
During the road rage shooting on the Southwest Freeway, a teen was killed and two others were injured.
Oscar Vasquez-Guzman has been charged with murder in the death of 19-year-old Otarion Lomax.
HPD patrol officers and homicide detectives responded to an emergency call regarding three shooting victims who had been transported by a private vehicle to a hospital in the 7600 block of the Southwest Freeway at around 12:30 a.m.
When officers arrived at the hospital, they found out that Lomax sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound. Doctors pronounced him dead on Saturday, Jan. 27. HPD said two women, 18 and 19, were shot in the leg and were treated and released.
According to investigators, the victims were traveling southbound on the Southwest Freeway near Hillcroft when a suspect in a gray or silver Toyota Tundra pickup truck fired shots at them.
Further investigation reportedly identified Vasquez-Guzman as the suspect in the shooting.
According to HPD, Vasquez-Guzman was initially arrested for traffic violations.
Lomax graduated from Westbury High School and was in school to be a crane operator.
Lomax’s family said he was coming from a Main Event in Humble with some friends when he was killed.
West Gulf Bank shooting
On Saturday, Jan. 20, 59-year-old Maria Ramirez was killed while her vehicle was stopped at a red light at the intersection of West Gulf Bank Road and North Houston-Rosslyn Road. According to investigators, the shooting happened after a night of fun for the mother of two and her friend.
Police said a shot was fired from inside another vehicle, which was described as a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck. The victim was struck. Her female passenger, 55, was not injured in the incident.
Ramirez’s vehicle then reportedly rolled through the intersection, over a curb and into a parking lot, where it struck a dumpster. Passing motorists stopped to assist and called 9-1-1. HPD patrol officers and Houston Fire Department paramedics responded to the scene and Ramirez was pronounced dead.
Wydell Dupree Jones was arrested and charged with murder. Police said there was “no apparent reason” for the shooting.
“These two people were innocent and just trying to go home,” Homicide Detective Kyle Heaverlo said. “I want to stress the importance of the community. We went business to business, restaurant to store to people living in residences to HOA members. Everybody that we came in contact with during this investigation was very accommodating and willing to help, and we truly believe that without their assistance, we’re not sure we’d be standing here today.”
Ramirez’s father, Ruben Salazar, wanted to thank Chief Finner, detectives, and Mayor Whitmire for closing the case. He said he hopes the city gets cameras on the highway that can read license plates to help catch criminals in similar future incidents.
“This violence-- we’re not going to sit by and just standby and do nothing about it,” Finner said in the news conference.
Finner said authorities are still searching for the suspect who fatally shot Louise Wilson, a 17-year-old girl who was driving to Galveston with two friends in the car when someone opened fire—shooting and killing her on the Pierce Elevated at Louisiana Street.
”Her and her two friends were going to make every minute count that Sunday, nap on the beach until the sunrise, eat, shop and head home that afternoon/evening because she had to work on Monday,“ Krista Wilson, Louise‘s mother, said to digital content producer Erica Ponder Wednesday.
“We’re still looking for that suspect or suspects,” Finner said. “We want the public to again, make sure you get us the information and our investigators are going to do their hard work, but we still need to find those persons responsible.”
“The message is if you have a warrant for your arrest and you’re a repeat violent offender, we’re coming after you,” Whitmire said. “All I can say is this is a beginning, a start. You’re going to see repeat enforcement efforts from HPD and their supporting agencies.”