Tragedy struck Houston's Third Ward not once, but twice, as the neighborhood was rocked by separate shootings that left two men dead in what appeared to be unrelated incidents. The Houston area is reeling from the violence that erupted in the heart of the community.
Early hours at a bustling restaurant, Leighton's House of Lamb, turned into a crime scene when a man was fatally shot inside and stumbled out to the patio, where he fell to the ground. The incident occurred around 12:45 a.m. at the intersection of Emancipation and Wheeler, according to Click2Houston. Houston Police Department's Lt. Melissa Countryman reported, "the victim was said to have been shot inside the restaurant and then walked onto the patio, where the suspect pushed him to the ground after shooting him."
In a separate event late Tuesday, just blocks away, gunfire echoed through the halls of the Haven at Elgin apartment building, adjacent to the University of Houston campus. A man's life was cut short in the confines of an elevator at approximately 11:30 p.m., reported the Houston Chronicle. Authorities say a group of men were in the elevator when the shooting occurred, clarifying that two individuals fled the scene, with one later found seeking treatment for a gunshot wound at a hospital.
The Houston Police Department, still piecing together the motives and connections, believes the act was targeted. Cmdr. Christopher Hassig expressed to the Houston Chronicle, "They appeared to have known each other, they had some sort of relationship that we're not aware of." In a grim reminder of the city's surge in gun violence, students from both the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, many of whom reside in the affected apartment complex, find their sense of security shattered.
The suspect in the restaurant shooting was described as a man around 5′8″ to 6″ tall, weighing roughly 230lbs, donning a white and blue striped shirt with blue jeans. He was last seen fleeing with a firearm in hand, heading southbound on Emancipation. The authorities urge anyone with information to come forward and contact Houston police at (713) 884-3131 or Houston Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
