Third Ward residents asking for more protection after brutal attacks

Residents in Third Ward are asking for protection from the escalating violence where a group of teens has been tackling and terrorizing bicyclists along the Columbia Tap Trail. The recent attacks have left one person shot and two people hospitalized.

Third Ward - Residents in Houston's Third Ward are asking for protection from the escalating violence where a group of teens has been tackling and terrorizing bicyclists along the Columbia Tap Trail.

The recent attacks have left one person shot and two people hospitalized.

PREVIOUS: Bicyclists brutally attacked, 1 shot along popular bike trail, 2 left hospitalized

"I’ve never used the trail because I was afraid of it," says long-time Third Ward resident Delores Ford and she adds. "We have young mothers and seniors who go across this trail to the laundromat over there, and if they’re doing that to people on bikes what are they going to do to us?"

Bicyclists brutally beaten on the Columbia Tap Bike Trail in Houston's Third Ward

In the last two weeks, five bicyclists have been brutally attacked on the Columbia Tap Bike Trail in the Greater Third Ward area. One man assaulted over the holiday weekend is still hospitalized. Another man was shot yesterday on Memorial Day.

For two weeks bicyclists have been viciously attacked and robbed along the Columbia Tap Trail.

"The one who pushed me, the tallest one I think, slowly pulled out a handgun a couple feet from my face," explains one victim who was bicycling to work at 11:30 a.m. when he was knocked from his bike, attacked, and robbed. "I was thinking this kid is looking at me as though I’m an object, and does not see me as a human being. He could fire that gun right at my face and not process that I’m a human being."

The wife of a 57-year-old man attacked in broad daylight says her husband is now out of ICU but is still in the hospital with four broken ribs after he was pistol-whipped including in his head, breaking his bike helmet, and he was robbed while cycling on the trail Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

"His lung collapsed entirely on the right side, which destroyed the pressure in his chest and made his heart stop beating," the concerned wife explains. "They had to bring him back to life."

"We’ve been asking for lights. We’ve been asking for cameras.," 13-year Third Ward resident Ed Pettitt explains. "We’ve been asking for safety call boxes but the only one that’s been installed so far is the one by Houston Housing Authority Cuney Homes because it’s on their property."

The man who was shot Monday on Memorial Day was struck in the leg and survived. The bicyclists say their attackers, who so many are now calling monsters, are kids.

"We have to remember these are people. We have to ask the deeper question how do we get to this point where a 16-year-old "A" has a gun and "B" feels like he has to use it," says the victim who was attacked at 11:30 a.m. while cycling to work.

MORE: Houston man on bike shot on Columbia Tap trail in Third Ward

The Houston Police Department has now stepped up patrols in the area.

As for installing cameras, call boxes, and lighting along the trail? Houston City Councilwoman Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz has committed $100,000 for the project and the housing authority is giving another $50,000.

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 HOUSTON APP

Houston Public Works, which owns the property, says, "HPW is ready and willing to support a partnership by allowing access to the right of way, review the plans, issue permits for and inspect equipment for public safety infrastructure."

The councilwoman’s office says the installation will likely begin next month.