HOUSTON — One of the teens who was arrested in connection with an armed robbery and a lockdown at a Houston high school was in trouble before the incident last week, according to court documents.
Mahamoudou Sylla, 18, was out on bond when he was arrested at his school campus on Thursday, authorities said. Houston Police Department investigators said Sylla was the robbery suspect who entered Wisdom High School and caused a chaotic scene in the school's auditorium.
Houston police said they were watching a "very violent crew of individuals" when they robbed and shot a person at an apartment complex off Westheimer Road near Hillcroft Avenue around noon on Thursday. According to police, when they approached the group, one of them pointed a gun at an officer.
Officer R. Aguilar shot John Nsenguwera, 18, once, police said. He was taken to an area hospital with what police said were non-life-threatening injuries. No officers were injured. Mohamed Rasheed Robinson, 17, was arrested at the scene.
Sylla managed to get away and got a ride back to school from a random driver, police said. According to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, the driver just "thought he was giving a kid a ride back to the school," not knowing Sylla had been involved in the incident with police.
When Sylla got back to the school, an administrator let him in and he went to the front desk where he used his school ID to scan in. Sylla then went to the auditorium where at least 100 students were, police said. The school was placed on lockdown once they found out he was on campus.
A short time later, Sylla was taken into custody. Sylla is facing two aggravated robbery charges, both felonies, and a robbery by threat charge. Nsenguwera and Robinson were also charged in the officer-involved shooting incident, police said. Nsenguwera was charged with aggravated assault against a peace officer. Robinson was charged with robbery by threat.
According to court records, Sylla was arrested in August 2022 after he and three other teens robbed a group at gunpoint near a shopping center on Bellaire Boulevard. The documents state they had also carjacked someone nearby. Sylla was charged with aggravated robbery of a deadly weapon in the case but was currently out on bond.
According to police, the teens charged in the 2022 case were different than those who were charged in last week's robbery and shooting.