Harris County shooting: Mother, daughter-in-law killed in gunfight, 2 others injured
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Two women are dead, and two men are in the hospital after gunfire erupted at a home in northwest Harris County on Sunday morning, authorities say.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages, but the sheriff says it appears seven people were at the home in the 8700 block of Cypressbrook Drive at the time of the shooting, and three of them may have fired shots.
James Grantom says he was one of the people there during the shooting, but not one of the shooters. He says he lives in the home with his mom, brother, sister-in-law, and two-year-old nephew. He identifies the two women killed as 65-year-old Deborah Grantom, his mother, and 28-year-old Courtney Grantom, his sister-in-law.
"It's just really hard I lost basically my entire family today," said James.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, authorities started getting calls around 10:16 a.m. about what was believed to have been a verbal disturbance between a couple in their 20s. James says the two arguing were his brother Devin and sister-in-law wife Courtney Grantom.
"We have received previous calls for service here possibly involving the couple," said Gonzalez.
James says a friend of Devin’s and Courtney’s dad both came to the house to try and de-escalate the situation, but instead, a gunfight broke out. Authorities confirm two men came to the house with the intention to de-escalate the situation but have not confirmed their relation to the victims.
"I ran away with my nephew into the back of the house when the shooting started to secure his life just to make sure no stray bullet was able to hit him," said James.
Deputies responded to the scene and learned that several people had been shot. Authorities say it appears that most of the shooting happened in the house, but there was some firearms evidence outside too.
The Harris County Sheriffs Office investigates a shooting on Cypressbrook.
"These situations are very dangerous... for people directly involved and just bystanders," said Sheriff Gonzalez.
The two people who came to the home were believed to have fired gunshots and got shot in the situation. They are both in serious but stable condition in the hospital, authorities say. Authorities say they have detained the husband of the deceased 28-year-old, who James identifies as his brother Devin Grantom, pending further investigation.
"We had four people shot here total and luckily that two-year-old who's so vulnerable didn't get shot, very scary situation," Gonzalez said.
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James says his mother, Deborah, worked for Cypress ISD for 20 years and had just retired. He says she was just trying to help the situation when she was shot.
"That caused her to put herself outside – I should have stopped her, but I didn’t think anything of it. Nothing's gotten physical before," he said.
The sheriff says the investigation is still in the preliminary stages, and they are working to determine everyone’s roles in the shooting.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.