HOUSTON – Three people have been killed and two others have been injured in a pair of shootings in southeast Houston, police said.
The first shooting was reported about 12:30 p.m. on Southwind Street, near Calhoun Road. Police said two people were killed and two others were injured in that shooting.
Investigators said they got a call about shots being fired from a white Chevy Impala. Within six minutes, police arrived to find a dead man's body on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds.
Police said was a man shot in the head area, possibly the ear, was found in the back seat of a Pontiac Grand Prix. Also in the car was another man and a woman who were both shot. The three wounded victims were taken to a hospital. While the woman and the man who was shot in the head area survived, the other man died.
As far as evidence, no weapons were found, but several 9mm rounds were found at the scene. A witness, who is not cooperating with police, is a documented gang member, according to Chief Pete Lopez. Lopez said they are treating the case as an act of gang violence.
The second shooting happened about a half-hour later on Clearway Drive, about 3 miles away from the first shooting scene. Police said the same Chevy Impala which was spotted at the first scene was found on the 9300 block of Clearway. When police arrived, they said they found one man shot in the chest. That person was taken to the hospital and later died. There was another person found in the car.
"Inside the car was another black male who is being detained but is not being cooperative, so we're going to process him as a potential suspect. There were no weapons recovered at the scene on Clearway but there were several .223 mm rifle rounds found at that scene," Lopez said.
Police said the two shootings are related.
"At this time we believe it's possibly gang-related. One of the witnesses here at this scene [on Southwind] is a documented gang member, so that's how we're going to treat this scene," Lopez said. "We're also going to help out and put more resources in this area and tactical teams to make sure that we avoid any possible retaliation shootings."