HOUSTON (Reuters) – At least six people were injured by a shooter who fired at vehicles inHouston on Monday before police officers shot the suspect and took him into custody, authorities in the Texas city said.
Several of the victims suffered gunshot wounds to their extremities and a couple of the injuries was more serious, Fire Department spokesman Richard Mann told reporters.
All of the victims were inside their vehicles during the morning commute when they were shot, he said.
The medical condition of the suspect was not immediately known.
Broken glass from shattered car windows littered a parking lot in an upscale shopping center near where the suspect fired 20-30 shots in the wealthy neighborhood of West University Place.
“At this time, the shooting scene is believed to be contained,” the city said on its emergency page.
People who were shot by the suspect were transported to area hospitals and the exact extent of their injuries was not yet known, Houston police said.
“I do not know if he’s dead or not,” Mann told reporters about the shooter. “I know that he’s been neutralized and is no longer a threat.”
A police bomb squad was dispatched to the area to investigate a vehicle, Fox 26 TV reported, adding a “shelter in place” order was issued for the area.
“I am just hearing the bullets literally whiz by my window,” an unidentified woman who witnessed the shooting told the station as she stood next to a car with two bullet holes in the windshield.
Live video streams showed the presence of numerous police cars and ambulances in the area. There were also a few vehicles seen with bullet holes.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas and the Houston bureau; Additional reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Photo: Flickr/Darla Hueske
