Rising number of gun violence, deadly shootings continue in Houston, homicide detectives say

HOUSTON - It was a violent Wednesday across Houston, where police responded to several shootings within the span of a few hours. 

A wanted "violent fugitive" first led police on a chase in northeast Houston, which ended in an officer-involved shooting. 

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Police say, when the pursuit came to an end, the unidentified man came out from the passenger seat with a bag in hand. They add that inside that bag, police found a semi-automatic pistol.

"One officer discharged as he was approaching, that suspect was hit," said HPD Executive Chief Matt Slinkard. "This suspect, an African American male, in his 30s is wanted right now on three felony warrants."

Later, another shooting in southeast Houston, in the 3400 block of Sampson, left a man in his early 20s dead on the scene. 

"Right now, we don’t have any witnesses, we are checking for video, if any residents around have surveillance please call crime stoppers or call us," Todd Tyler, with HPD Homicide Division said. 

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And a shooting in west Houston claimed the life of a 36-year-old Hispanic woman. Police say she was shot several times right outside her door. Detectives are investigating it as a homicide. 

"Two females in the apartment, they received a knock at the door, someone answers and gunfire ensures the suspect then flees the scene," Sgt. Matthew Brady with HPD Homicide Division said. "We are looking for a Black male suspect maybe in his 30s."

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Certainly, April has been a busy month for homicide detectives, who tell us numbers for the month are up. 

"We had a fairly slow March, but April has picked up, around 38 today, so back to more than one a day," added Sgt. Brady.