Houston police descended on the block surrounding Westbury High School Friday morning to investigate a shooting near Dryad Drive and Chimney Rock Road, prompting Houston ISD to place the campus in secure mode while officers worked to piece together what happened.
Dispatch Records Point Directly to the Campus Address
According to ABC13, Houston police were investigating a shooting near Westbury High School. The Houston Chronicle reported that police responded to 11911 Chimney Rock Road, the school's campus address, and that a police public information officer was responding. ABC13 reported that HPD confirmed in a 10 a.m. update that the victim was a 17-year-old Westbury student who died from gunshot wounds.
ABC13's SkyEye13 helicopter observed heavy police activity near the high school as the investigation unfolded, and the station sent a crew to the scene to gather more information. Houston ISD confirmed it had placed Westbury High School in secure mode as officers worked the scene nearby.
Westbury High in Secure Mode
Houston ISD placed Westbury High School in secure mode while officers worked nearby.
Texas law requires armed security officers at public schools.
A Street With a Painful History
Friday's police activity unfolded on a stretch of Dryad Drive that has seen deadly violence before. City of Houston police records show that 16-year-old Westbury freshman Julian Ruiz was killed in a fatal drive-by shooting in the 5400 block of Dryad Drive on November 28, 2006, while walking to school; two 17-year-old suspects were identified in connection with the case. Records also show that 22-year-old Enan Westley Stevenson was shot to death in the 6342 block of Dryad Drive on March 1, 2018, in a daytime shooting investigated by HPD homicide detectives.
HPD's Southwest Patrol Division Beat 15E20 includes Westbury-area neighborhoods. Hoodline previously reported that it covers 52.2 square miles across Southwest Houston and serves more than 217,000 residents amid ongoing violent crime challenges.
A Campus Serving Nearly 2,000 Students
Westbury High School, which opened in 1961 in Southwest Houston's Brays Oaks area, serves students in grades 9 through 12.
The neighborhood has faced other recent strain, including a fatal shooting at a Southwest Houston apartment complex within the same police beat in August.
