Gunshots near Houston daycare: Frightening encounter sparks concerns over local crime
HOUSTON - The owner of a Southwest Houston daycare facility spoke to FOX 26 after a shooting happened just yards away from her business Monday morning.
Surveillance video shows the moment an unknown man pointed a gun at another male walking nearby and shot at him near the corner of Fondren Road and Pagewood Lane. It was caught on the Panda Bear Academy surveillance camera at 7:04 a.m. Three shots are heard in the video.
"It's frustrating," said daycare owner Gulzar Saleem. "It happened in seconds. I'm glad my teacher just rushed into the daycare with the kids."
The video shows one parent walking in with her child less than 30 seconds before the shooting. Four children and two staff members had just entered the academy's van for school transport and were backing out of the parking lot. The staff quickly pulled the van back in and got the children back inside the daycare.
"I heard loud pops coming from outside," said staff member Patricia Bronaugh. "I'm just glad it wasn't worse and no one was injured. It happened all of a sudden."
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Panda Bear Academy is also located just yards away from Piney Point Elementary. Elisa Fernandez had just dropped her children off at the daycare and the elementary school.
"Once I dropped my 9-year-old off at the school, and I said, "are those gunshots?" Fernandez asked. "It could've been just one of us walking, and it could've been me or my daughter."
The alleged shooter appeared to have on a dark-colored jacket and light-colored pants. The other man in the video had on a white and black shirt and white pants. After the shots were fired, the man in white clothes ran away, and then seen running back towards a black two-door vehicle parked across the street. He then gets in the passenger seat and the car drives off.
Saleem says HPD arrived about 30 minutes later, collected evidence of the shooting, and interviewed staff about the incident.
No arrests have been made. Panda Bear Academy closed Monday after the shooting. Parents were able to quickly and safely pick their children up from the facility.
"I'm scared, to be honest. Parents were dropping off. It's scary. We're just going to have someone patrol the daycare. It just takes a number of seconds for things like this to happen."
No injuries were reported. If you have any information about this shooting, call HPD or Crimestoppers.