Who Shot and Killed A Suspected Robber at an East Houston Gas Station? - KIAH
Who Shot and Killed A Suspected Robber at an East Houston Gas Station?
Because Store Clerk was Unarmed, Residents Consider Possibility of Vigilante
Andrea NguyenKIAH
August 23, 2009
Just ask any Denver Harbor resident in east Houston, and most will tell you crime there is getting out of hand. But does the neighborhood really have its own secret vigilante?
"If there's a mystery crime fighter around here protecting DH, than that's real good," said Denver resident, Aaron Fernandez.
Rumors of one quickly spread early this morning, after a suspected robber was shot and killed in the parking lot of an Exxon gas station at Lathrop and the East Freeway.
"We have four to five black males," said Sgt. David Ferguson of the Houston Police Department. "They broke the window. They attempted to steal the bill payment machine inside the store. As they were doing that, they looked up and saw a clerk inside the store, apparently they panicked and they began running away. There were four to five gunshots heard."
Police say the store clerk was unarmed, so the question remains: who killed the suspect?
As Exxon employees review their surveillance video to find the mystery shooter, witnesses who heard the loud shots, say they aren't ruling out the possibility of a secret crime fighter.
"He was protecting his neighborhood, that's how I feel," said one witness who wanted her name withheld.
"They came to the wrong place trying to do the wrong thing," said Fernandez. "They need to keep in mind that Denver Harbor is our neighborhood and we got to protect our neighborhood."
Detectives are skeptical about the vigilante theory.
"A possibility is as they were running the suspects began shooting for whatever reason and maybe one of the shots hit one of the suspects who is dead here at the scene," said Sgt. Ferguson. "Of course we won't know for sure until we compare bullets."
For now, officers are focused on catching the other three to four suspects seen running down the street and jumping over residents' fences; athey're still trying to solve the recent rash of robberies in the area.
"Exxon has had similar thefts and break in's like this in the last four to five days, same type of MO's," said Ferguson. "We'll be checking in to that to make sure if they are related to this incident here."
Copyright © 2009, KIAH-TV
Who Shot and Killed A Suspected Robber at an East Houston Gas Station?
Because Store Clerk was Unarmed, Residents Consider Possibility of Vigilante
Andrea NguyenKIAH
August 23, 2009
Just ask any Denver Harbor resident in east Houston, and most will tell you crime there is getting out of hand. But does the neighborhood really have its own secret vigilante?
"If there's a mystery crime fighter around here protecting DH, than that's real good," said Denver resident, Aaron Fernandez.
Rumors of one quickly spread early this morning, after a suspected robber was shot and killed in the parking lot of an Exxon gas station at Lathrop and the East Freeway.
"We have four to five black males," said Sgt. David Ferguson of the Houston Police Department. "They broke the window. They attempted to steal the bill payment machine inside the store. As they were doing that, they looked up and saw a clerk inside the store, apparently they panicked and they began running away. There were four to five gunshots heard."
Police say the store clerk was unarmed, so the question remains: who killed the suspect?
As Exxon employees review their surveillance video to find the mystery shooter, witnesses who heard the loud shots, say they aren't ruling out the possibility of a secret crime fighter.
"He was protecting his neighborhood, that's how I feel," said one witness who wanted her name withheld.
"They came to the wrong place trying to do the wrong thing," said Fernandez. "They need to keep in mind that Denver Harbor is our neighborhood and we got to protect our neighborhood."
Detectives are skeptical about the vigilante theory.
"A possibility is as they were running the suspects began shooting for whatever reason and maybe one of the shots hit one of the suspects who is dead here at the scene," said Sgt. Ferguson. "Of course we won't know for sure until we compare bullets."
For now, officers are focused on catching the other three to four suspects seen running down the street and jumping over residents' fences; athey're still trying to solve the recent rash of robberies in the area.
"Exxon has had similar thefts and break in's like this in the last four to five days, same type of MO's," said Ferguson. "We'll be checking in to that to make sure if they are related to this incident here."
Copyright © 2009, KIAH-TV
