HOUSTON — A 14-year-old student was shot and wounded near a Houston ISD middle school Wednesday morning and the gunman, also a teenager, is still on the run, Houston police said.
Welch Middle School went into “secure mode” after the shots were fired near the campus in southwest Houston.
HPD Assistant Chief Yasar Bashir said the shooting stemmed from a dispute between two teens that started Tuesday. The suspect was firing at that teen when a bullet struck the 14-year-old who was a passenger in a passing car on South Gessner.
The teen that was injured was taken to a hospital in the Texas Medical Center to be treated. He is expected to survive.
Police are now searching for the suspect, who is said to be 14 to 16 years old. They said they have an idea who he is and are urging him to surrender safely.
What happened
The whole incident started just before 8 a.m. when HISD dispatch called HPD dispatch saying they heard gunshots fired near Louis Welch Middle School on S. Gessner near Brays Oaks.
Houston police said officers in the area also heard the gunshots and responded to the scene quickly at S. Gessner and West Bellfort. Officers found the teen who was hit by a stray bullet and began administering first aid to help stop the bleeding before he was rushed to the hospital.
The officers then headed over to Welch Middle School where they found the victim who the gunman was originally shooting at. He was shaken up but not injured.
Bashir said the officers took the teen back to the crime scene to question him. The teen told police that the gunman spotted him earlier in the morning and began shooting at him. He then took off running, heading west on Bellfort.
Then the gunman ended up at a strip center across the street from the victim and began firing shots once more in his direction, police said. That is when the innocent 14-year-old in the passing car was hit.
The original teen being targeted ran to Welch Middle School where he is a student and told the principal what had happened. That is when the school went into secure mode.
Parents then started to arrive at the campus to pick up their children. HISD Assistant Chief Lucretia Rogers said the school was only in secure mode for a short time and classes resumed afterward.
HPD Commander Adrian Rodriguez, with the S. Gessner Division, said the children at the school were never in any danger.
HPD said they then found the suspect’s vehicle, which was stolen, not far from the scene of the shooting and it is being processed.
Houston police are looking to see if the incident was caught on surveillance video and are canvassing the area. HISD police are assisting with the investigation.
If you have information on the suspect or this case, you are urged to contact HPD’s Major Assaults Division or Crime Stoppers.
Watch HPD's full briefing below.