7-year-old shot, killed in drive-by shooting at east Harris County home
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A 7-year-old boy has died after being shot and killed in a drive-by shooting outside his east Harris County home overnight.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office says it happened around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday in the 13800 block of McNair Street.
When sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, they found little Paul Vasquez shot in the chest. He was hit while he was in bed and was able to get up and tell his mom that he was shot before collapsing.
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Paul was taken to Ben Taub Hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest where he was pronounced dead.
Homicide investigators say a white or grey-colored, four-door sedan drove by the residence, and fired into the home multiple times.
The boy's mother and two older brothers were also at home at the time of the shooting.
The family declined to speak to FOX 26 on Monday.
Authorities are now working to identify a motive and the gunman responsible.
"They’ve given us some possible names just off the top of their head. We’re in the process of trying to recover video from the area and see if we can develop any suspects," said Brown.
In a tweet, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he’s outraged and encouraged the community to come forward with information. The sheriff adding, "Let’s not accept daily gun violence as our norm. "
The motive for the shooting is unknown, and no suspects have been identified by investigators at this time.
7-year-old Paul Vasquez has now been added to a growing and gruesome list of young children murdered in the Houston area.
Andy Kahan with Crimestoppers, reaching out to those grieving families, offering solidarity.
"It’s absolutely gut-wrenching, especially when you lose a child and especially when a child is murdered," said Kahan.
The Parents of Murdered Children group meets the second Tuesday of every month. The meeting for June is happening June 14 at 7 p.m. at the Crimestoppers building on 3001 Main St.
"If there’s anyone who lost anybody, to homicide, whether it be a child, mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, friend, you’re more than welcome to attend the meeting and know that you’re not alone," Kahan continued.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit at 713-274-9100 or anonymously Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.