HOUSTON — An 18-year-old man accused of shooting three people last month has been identified and charged, and now, police are hoping the public can help them find him.
Alan Ernesto Ortega, 18, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, according to Houston police.
On Wednesday, the Houston Police Department released a booking photo from April in hopes of finding him.
The shooting happened during some sort of transaction on June 10 around 4 a.m. along Bellaire Boulevard near South Kirkwood Road, investigators said.
According to police at the scene, three people were shot outside of a gas station. An 18-year-old man was found shot multiple times inside a car. He was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. Two girls, one 18 and one 16, were found hiding behind the gas station. They had both been shot and were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries -- one was shot in the hand and the other in the thigh.
Police also said they found money scattered across the parking lot and inside the car. They said weapons were also found inside the vehicle where the victims were shot.
Investigators looked at a video that showed the victims in one car when another car pulled up and a transaction took place. Police said they believe Ortega opened fire from inside the victim's vehicle and then ran from the scene.
At the time of the shooting, police said no drugs were found at the scene and the two girls who were shot told them they were scared but didn't cooperate or provide statements.
Anyone with information on Ortega's whereabouts is asked to call the HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division at 713-308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).