HOUSTON – A 23-year-old father, who was driving to take family photos with his 5-month-old daughter, was shot to death while the baby was inside the vehicle in the Alief area of southwest Houston, according to family at the scene.
A woman in the backseat grabbed the baby and held onto her when bullets started flying.
“It’s a small car with 4 people in it. You know, anytime you’ve got gunfire going in a car, it’s very dangerous,” said Lt. Larry Crowson with the Houston Police Department. “We’re lucky we didn’t have more injuries and deaths today.”
The shooting started along Beechnut Street near Beltway 8 and ended in the parking lot of a Wells Fargo bank.
The baby was not hurt.
The victim’s family told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry another man was in the front passenger seat. He was the victim’s 23-year-old roommate and also hurt during the shooting. He was taken to the hospital.
The victim’s vehicle has damage to its front-end and is riddled with bullet holes through the front and back windshields as well as a back passenger window.
Family members showed up at the crime scene throughout the night, full of grief and emotion. They say the victim was a loving father and hard worker. He worked security as a security officer.
Investigators are trying to determine a motive.
“We don’t know if it was targeted, we don’t know if it’s road rage,” Lt. Crowson said.
Police believe the shooting happened around 4 p.m. and about half a mile down Beechnut from where the car ended up.
They found bullet casings stretching down the road all the way to the bank.
Investigators don’t have a suspect and are asking anyone with information to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.