Unfortunately, murder doesn’t recognize holiday weekends, as evidenced by the following homicide investigations recently opened by area law enforcement.
A man was killed following a shootout with Humble police late this morning. Details are limited, but the incident occurred outside an employment officer in the 9800 block of FM 1960 Bypass, according to Humble police. An officer working an extra job at a nearby bank responded to a call of a man with a gun holding a female hostage. The officer observed a male suspect with a pistol, and ordered the man to drop the gun. The man shot at the officer.
A Humble detective who also responded to the call observed the suspect shoot at the officer. The detective fired one shot at the man. It is not yet known if the detective’s shot killed the suspect, or if the suspect shot himself. The man has not been identified.
Houston police this morning are investigating what appears to be a
murder-suicide in the 8500 block of Broadway. The bodies of Fortunata
Aguirre Cardenas, 33, and Juan Perez, no age listed, were pronounced
dead at the scene from gunshot wounds at approximately 3:30 a.m.
Perez’s wound was described as apparently “self-inflicted,” in an HPD
report issued today.
According to the report, southeast patrol officers responded to a
shooting call at the address, where they discovered the bodies. Four
children, ages 4-12, “were present during the shooting and ran to a
neighbor’s apartment to get help. According to the children, their
father shot their mother and then shot himself. The children were not
injured in this incident. One pistol was recovered at the scene.”
A few hours earlier, around 12:30 a.m., a passer-by discovered the body
of man in the 1400 block of Shepherd. Police say the unidentified
victim appears to have been beaten to death, however the official cause
of death is pending verification by the Harris County Medical
Examiner’s Office.
The body was found in shrubbery by a warehouse, according to the
HPD report, which also states “an instrument believed [to be] used the
incident was recovered at the scene.”
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact HPD Homicide at 713-308-3600, or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Meanwhile, Harris County Sheriff’s homicide detectives and crime scene
officials are investigating a decomposed body that was discovered
Monday night in Greens Bayou in north Harris County.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2009.
