Houston police officers converged at a Thanksgiving Day 2022 murder scene. (Image via KHOU-TV screengrab.)
An ex-wife and a man are dead — and two others, a teenager and another man, are recovering — after a 38-year-old ex-husband barged into a Houston, Texas home and started firing as a family and their friends were wrapping up a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. That’s according to Houston Police Department Asst. Chief Patricia Cantu, who provided a quick update for assembled reporters at the scene overnight in the 1500 block of Baggett Lane in Houston.
The address in the city’s Spring Branch neighborhood is a short cul-de-sac lined with half-million and million-dollar homes.
Police announced early Friday evening that they had caught the man they believe to be responsible for the attack, but his identity beyond his age and gender were not immediately released.
Cantu said earlier at the scene that her officers received a call of a shooting in progress at 9:19 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening. Police officers and members of the fire department — presumably paramedics — arrived at 9:23 p.m., she said.
Four people had been shot inside the home in question after the assailant allegedly busted in through a back door. Two — the ex-wife and a man — were dead at the scene. A 15-year-old in stable condition and another man in critical condition were taken to the hospital, according to the assistant chief and subsequent local news reports.
Houston police officers roped off a home where a Thanksgiving Day 2022 double murder occurred. (Image via KHOU-TV screengrab.)
“The families were celebrating; they just finished eating,” Cantu said. “The suspect, who is known to be the ex-husband of the deceased female, came in through the back door and just started firing at the people inside the house. There were four other people inside the house. As soon as they heard the shooting they ran to their rooms for safety. The suspect discharged multiple rounds and even reloaded his weapon at the scene.”
Cantu said that officers couldn’t locate the shooter, but that changed early Friday evening. The Houston Police Department said in a tweet that the heretofore and currently unnamed suspect was in custody and being charged with two counts of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
“This is a very sad situation; it’s Thanksgiving; people are supposed to celebrate with their families,” Cantu said from the scene somewhere between Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning. “And we do know this was a domestic-related incident.”
Both friends and family were present for the dinner, so not everyone in the house was related, Cantu said.
Houston FOX affiliate KRIV reported the individual who was in critical condition was later upgraded to stable condition in an intensive care unit.
Houston ABC affiliate KTRK said the other victim who died was a man who lived at the house. That TV station said the other surviving victim besides the teen was also a man.
KTRK added that child protective services workers were at the scene to care for a ten-year-old child who somehow slept through the incident. That child was reportedly one of the four other individuals in the house who were not injured when the mayhem unfolded.
KTRK also said the shooter and his ex-wife had a child together.
A neighbor told CBS affiliate KHOU that crime was rare in the neighborhood and that some in the area responded by ensuring their home security systems were armed.
One of the local affiliates reported that police had not obtained surveillance video of the attack because security cameras weren’t working properly.
The identities of those involved and the relationships among those present have not been released.