DEER PARK, Texas – A 16-year-old boy in recovering after he was carjacked and shot in the chest in front of his mother Tuesday night.
Deer Park police said the teenager and his mom were in a business center shopping strip on Spencer Highway and Academy Lane at around 9 p.m. when the suspect approached and demanded their car.
Witnesses told KPRC 2 the teenage boy immediately step in to protect his mother.
“And the next thing you know, I hear a pop,” said witness Riley Gingrich.
Gingrich, an employee at a nearby Jimmy John’s sandwich shop said the victim was shot in the chest and tried running away.
“I call 911, I’m on the phone with them saying what’s happening and he’s walking right back to right here and I intercept him right there and I see he’s just bleeding, he pulls up his shirt and I see there’s a hole in his chest,” Gingrich said.
Gingrich said he stayed by the teenage boy’s side until emergency responders arrived.
“I was trying to talk to him and keep him awake,” said Gingrich.
The suspect took off the victim’s car and led several different law enforcement agencies on a chase before crashing into parked cars and a detached garage.
The suspect, identified as Matthew Hubbard, 28, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and aggravated robbery.
He is being held at the Deer Park jail. The victim’s mother was not harmed.