Houston police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man by a teenager during what may have been a break-in attempt on Thursday.
A 14-year-old boy was home alone when a man showed up in front of his residence in the 14400 block of Brownsville Street on the east side of Houston at around 7 a.m. The man — purportedly homeless — had a backpack on and was wearing gloves. He may have been fiddling with the doorknob, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, per ABC 13.
Believing the man was trying to break in, the teen retrieved a handgun, opened the door, and fired several times, killing the man.
“They have a right to protect their home. They have a right to feel safe in their home,” Gonzalez said, referring to the teen and his family. “Ironically, there is a sign on the gate that basically says that, something to the effect that, ‘Intruders will be met with force.’ So, I think it’s very clear on the front gate.”
“If we go with the possibility that the male was trying to break into the home, then it’s possible that he may have spotted people leaving the home and was trying to make entry into the home,” he added.
Araceli Herrera, who lives nearby, was one of several individuals who reported seeing the man in question before the fatal shooting.
“I turned on my camera, and for sure there was a man looking in the ditch, [who] had very weird behaviors, started walking around the ditch, then started to the neighbor’s property,” she told Fox 26.
The sheriff’s office had received about three calls about someone matching the man’s description allegedly trying to force his way into homes in the vicinity and asking people for money before the shooting.
Herrera said she was left shocked by the whole incident.
“Honestly, you do hear gunshots here all the time, but to actually see the entire thing and see the guy drop and all of that. It’s just a big impact,” she said, per Fox 26.
A Harris County grand jury will ultimately determine whether the teen will face any charges related to the man’s death, which is still under investigation.
Property crimes have been prevalent in Dallas — making up 61% of reported crimes this year as of February 15 — amid a staffing crisis at the Dallas Police Department. Although a City analysis recommended a force of 4,000 officers to ensure public safety in a municipality the size of Dallas, DPD fields only around 3,000.
Meanwhile, City leaders opted to budget DPD just $654 million this year, allocating much less to public safety than their counterparts in other high-crime municipalities, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.