HOUSTON – A 10-year-old boy was shot in the back after a fight broke out at an apartment complex in Northeast Harris County.
The little boy remains in critical condition. He is a fifth grade student at Sheldon ISD.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Precinct 3 Constable Deputies were called to an apartment complex in the 12200 block of Tidwell near Brock Adventure Park around 8 p.m. Deputies say around 20-25 teens and young adults were hanging out in the parking lot. A fight broke out and someone started shooting.
It’s unclear what caused the fight, but Sheriff Gonzalez said at least one person pulled out a gun and began firing several shots. One of the bullets hit the 10-year-old boy.
“We don’t know if he was the intended target or if the person was just firing into the crowd,” the sheriff said.
KPRC2′s Re’Chelle Turner spoke to a woman who saw the little boy on the ground.
“He’s a good little kid. He was laying there and I was talking to him. He was calm and he was stable and I was telling him it will be okay,” the woman said.
We still don’t know why the fight broke out but the shooting has many parents afraid. One parent told Turner she kept her child at home today because of the crime.
“I knew it wasn’t safe for her to go to school today. I couldn’t trust it because it happened at night and it was a lot of middle school kids,” she said.
Deputies collected video from the scene last night and believe they know who the gunman is.
Just two years ago, 11-year-old Darius Dugas was killed at the same complex.
“This is the fourth time that something like this happened. Second time for a little kid. I’m moving…I’m trying to move now,” one parent said.
“I just wish they would put down the guns and pick up the gloves,” a person told Turner.
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The sheriff described the crime as senseless but expressed confidence in law enforcement to bring the suspects to justice and urged the public if they had any information to come forward by calling 713-222-TIPS.
“We can’t have our children getting gunned down for any reason,” he said. “Do the right thing, this could have been your child.”