A suburban Houston resident fatally shot three people he said were trying to break into his trailer home on Monday, authorities said. The homeowner was also injured in the exchange and remains hospitalized.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, another mobile home resident spotted the three men dressed in dark clothing, get out of a car near the home in Channelview. The resident told authorities he believed he saw a gun in one man's hand. That resident hid, while a second man, the homeowner (who has not been identified by authorities), came out of his room with a shotgun.
"It appears there was some type of gunfire exchange," Gonzalez said. "The one with the shotgun was able to shoot at the three males, and they were all pronounced deceased here at the scene."
The witness told detectives that there may have been a fourth person who fled the home before the three men entered. Investigators have not yet spoken to that person.
The resident who opened fire was injured in the exchange of gunfire and is being treated at a local hospital. A relative of the homeowner told KPRC that the victim had been shot in the leg and back and spent Monday in surgery.
Investigators aren't sure why the homeowner was targeted, or what the group may have wanted. Gonzalez says the group might have been "planning to break in and make a quick getaway."