Parents and staff members were on high alert at Sharpstown High School Wednesday morning, after a man shot at students near the campus and caused the school to go on lockdown.
A call was made at 9:20 a.m. to report the sound of a gun firing near the school, Houston Police Department officials confirmed.
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HISD Police Chief Shamara Garner provided KPRC 2 more information on the situation. According to Chief Garner, the shooting occurred near the school at 7200 Bissonnet St.
A man driving a 2-door white pickup truck got into a confrontation with a group of five or six students in a car near the school. He got out of his vehicle and began shooting at the group, but the students were able to escape the situation. The shooter quickly took off.
A short time later, the same shooter fired two shots at another nearby car that was occupied by teenagers. Police believe the suspect knew both of the groups of teens he fired at, and nobody was injured in either incident.
An individual who was believed to be with the suspected shooter came inside the school a short time later. This development caused the school to go from a “secure mode” to a full lockdown. The person linked to the shooter was also a student at Sharpstown High School.
There were no guns located inside of the school, and the shooting did not take place inside the building.
Parents and students received an email from Houston ISD reporting that Sharpstown ISD had entered a lockdown shortly after 10:30 a.m., and all students and staff members were ordered to stay in locked classrooms. An email obtained by KPRC 2′s Corley Peel cited an “intruder who has trespassed onto the campus.”
Chief Garner also reported that the lockdown has since been lifted.
“I want to thank the Houston Police Department for their partnership in this incident. They will be the lead investigators as it pertains to the shooting that I mentioned earlier.” Chief Garner said in a press conference detailing the shooting.
While Corley was covering the story, gunshots erupted near the campus after school was let out in the afternoon. Corley said she did not hear the gunshots, but an officer patrolling nearby alerted her after hearing the gunfire.
KPRC 2 obtained a neighbors’ surveillance video that captured the sound of roughly eight gunshots. It’s unclear where the shots came from, but no one was hurt.
Parents, like Mattie Johnson, rushed to school. She said the sound of gunfire and police activity has become a major concern.
“Yesterday when I was coming to get my son across the street, the gang unit was over there, [near Bissonnet St. and Bonhomme Rd.] and they had them hemmed up. There were a lot of kids,” Johnson said.
Parents received two different emails on Wednesday, letting them know the school was on lockdown after shots were fired near the school during morning drop off.
“They can’t even go to school. It happened early in the morning. This street is full of kids... So, for them to say that they were shooting all in the streets. They could have shot and killed anybody,” said Johnson.
A suspicious vehicle was also located on South Gessner Rd. Police reported the vehicle had bullet holes.
HISD provided us with the following statement:
The lockdown at Sharpstown HS was lifted at 12:25 p.m. The Houston Police Department is the lead agency as the incident occurred off campus. Please direct questions about the investigation to HPD.
Please see below for the communication sent to Sharpstown families.
This is an update from the Principal Cotter at Sharpstown High School. The Lockdown at Sharpstown HS has been lifted as of 12:25pm and the campus is now All Clear. The school was in Lockdown from 9:52am to 12:25pm due to an incident that occurred near campus. To be clear, there were no shots fired on campus, no students are injured, and the incident did not occur at the school.
The school day will continue and students are encouraged to remain in class for the remainder of the day. For additional questions, please contact the Family Connections Center at 713-556-7121. Again, this was an important update from Principal Cotter at Sharpstown High School.