HOUSTON — Family members and Houston community activists are demanding justice after they said three young men were shot at multiple times for simply driving down the street to park their car.
It happened Friday night in a neighborhood in Spring.
Those three young men said they were attending a house party when, out of nowhere, they say someone started shooting. Now, they want that person charged.
“They were only looking for a place to park to attend a party," community activist Quanell X said.
Driving with his two cousins, Tavares White, 19, said he saw a man standing in a driveway firing multiple shots at his car.
“I saw him shooting at the vehicle, and then that was it," White said.
His blue Dodge Charger is now punctured with bullet holes.
“That was attempted murder," Tavares's father, Carlton White said. "He fired shots into one side of the car, and he waited for that car to come around again and he unloaded the clip from the front of the car to the back of the car. And as it was going, he shot again at the back of the car. He was trying to kill my son and my nephews. We want justice. We want justice immediately."
The men, along with their families and Quanell X, believe Harris County Precinct 4 deputies did not do their job that night.
“These were good young boys," Quanell X said. "This man totally stepped over the line. He could’ve killed these kids. Why is it when that young man and the other young men in the vehicle pointed out the shooter, they did not bag his hands and test his hands for gunpowder residue?"
Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman did not say if the accused shooter’s hands were tested for residue but did confirm that shell casings were found in the street in front of the man’s home. However, Herman says the casings did not match any guns inside his home.
Herman says they’ve reviewed the body camera video from that night. They said the witnesses in the car were interviewed initially and they said they did not see a gun, but then 15 minutes later, said they saw a man they claim was the shooter "pointing something."
Herman said deputies called the Harris County District Attorney's Office that night, but they would not accept any charges.
The DA's office said they declined charges because the witnesses could not identify the shooter, and say the alleged shooter claimed he was in bed at the time, asleep. The DA’s office also said the man’s gun had not been fired in years and said all of this was not enough evidence to support a charge.
Precinct 4 Constable's Office says they are still investigating and are processing the shell casings for fingerprints.