Feds, police swarm home near Rice
FBI, ATF and HPD conduct operation on quiet street near Rice University
Police and federal agents swarm a neighborhood near Rice University on Sunday, spending hours blocking the street without offering any details on their investigation.
In a scene eerily similar to one that played out four years ago, police and federal agents swarmed a quiet neighborhood near Rice University Sunday, blocking the street into the night without offering any details on the investigation.
The Houston Police Department offered around 3 p.m. only that they were on “special assignment” in the 2000 block of Albans, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The FBI said it was “lawfully present conducting law enforcement operations” that are “in the interest of public safety,” according to an agency statement. “Since the matter is ongoing, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”
Just after 4 p.m., officers wearing camouflage and carrying guns following a robot as neighbors came outside to watch the commotion.
Officers hustled residents and media off the quiet block, urging them to stay back.
“This is a big deal for our neighborhood,” said Mike Leath, a doctor.
Around 5 p.m., authorities pulled out a battering ram and drew close to the brick house at the focus of the operation.
An FBI evidence team arrived later, and at 7:30 p.m. authorities said they planned to be there overnight.
HPD officers taped off multiple houses as the sidewalks cleared and emergency vehicles drove off. They also wrapped yellow tape on large swaths of the block.
Back in 2013, feds raided a home in the same block looking for chemicals intended to make “tear gas or nerve gas,” a law enforcement source told the Chronicle at the time. Court documents later revealed the substance was picric acid, a military-grade explosive.
The home that was the center of the fur or four years ago belonged to Cecily E. Horton, a stalwart of the local art community, and her husband, AndrewS ch neck. But the focus of the raid was the couple’s son, then-22year-old Andrew Cecil Earhart Schneck.
In the same 2103 sweep, authorities raided two other spots, including one in the Memorial area. The next day, FBI agents touched off two controlled detonations at a home then owned by Horton.
The following year, the younger Schneck was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to knowingly storing high explosives. In 2016, a judge agreed to release him from probation early.
Authorities did not indicate whether Sunday’s actions were in any way related to the past raid.