Saturday night, five people were shot outside Greenlight Food Mart in Sunnyside during a neighborhood block party, stated commander Ron Borza of South East Patrol in a press conference early Sunday morning. Reportedly the party had attracted up to 500 people, children’s bouncy houses included, though when Houston Police officers arrived on the scene at 9:16 p.m. the crowd had scattered and only 100-200 remained.
The five people shot included a two-year-old, a 12-year-old girl, two 20-year-old women, and a 22-year-old man who later died at Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital. Borza stated that from a video it looked like five different shooters.
The gathering attracted people from many neighborhoods in Houston—something Jimmy Hall, 51, who lives nearby, says could have contributed to the violence. Hall says he was at work during the block party and didn’t get off until 2 a.m.
Another bystander who lives in the neighborhood, who chose not to give his name, stated it could have been a combination of things, an altercation, people getting to close to each other while COVID-19 still remains a problem, people not in the right mental state, “We just don’t know,” he said.
As of early Sunday morning, Borza stated they hadn’t taken anyone into custody, but they were questioning a person of interest.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2020.
