A Sunday night trip through a west Harris County shopping-center parking lot ended with a teenage boy in the hospital after he was shot in the leg, authorities said. The gunfire broke out around 8 p.m. at 14315 Bellaire Boulevard, and deputies said the teen was taken to a hospital where he is expected to survive.
What deputies say
Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office were called to the shopping-center lot at 14315 Bellaire Boulevard around 8 p.m. for reports of a shooting, according to Click2Houston. Investigators told the station the victim was walking through the lot with two other people when they got into some kind of altercation with another group.
At some point in that confrontation, someone in the other group pulled a gun and opened fire, hitting the teen in the leg, investigators said. Deputies transported him to a nearby hospital. No other injuries were reported.
How this fits a pattern
For Harris County deputies, a tense moment in a busy parking lot turning into a shooting is starting to sound familiar. Sunday’s incident is the latest in a run of parking-lot and teen-involved shootings reported around the county this year.
In February, a deadly car meet in Greenspoint showed how quickly large gatherings in lots can explode into chaos. Law-enforcement scrutiny on juvenile gun violence has also intensified after the Sheriff’s Office put up rewards for tips tied to teen shootings, according to the Houston Chronicle.
How to help
Click2Houston reported that investigators had not released any suspect description or announced an arrest in the Bellaire Boulevard shooting as of Sunday night.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Division at 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477), per local reporting from FOX 26 Houston. This story will be updated as officials release more details.
