Suspect sought in three slayings
Police say public should stay alert for ‘armed’ man
Authorities on Monday were hunting for a man in connection with a weeklong crime spree that includes robberies and deadly shootings at a home and two separate Houston area mattress stores.
At least three people have been fatally shot, authorities said Monday as they identified the suspect as 46-year-old Jose Gilberto Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds. He should be considered “armed and dangerous,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said at the news confer-
ence with Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
They said they are also looking for a vehicle they believe Rodriguez, a registered sex offender, may be driving: a gray Nissan Sentra with the license plate, KPD2805.
“We need to be find this vehicle,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said, while also noting that Rodriguez has the “propensity to change vehicles often.”
Gonzalez, asked by a reporter if Rodriguez is considered a serial killer, responded: “Yes, that’s what we’re facing.”
With northwest Harris County residents on edge, Gonzalez said the public should be on “very high alert.”
Rodriguez’s alleged crime spree began July 9. He is suspected in a home invasion and robbery, Acevedo said.
Next, Pamela Johnson, 62, was found slain Friday inside her home in Cypress, her car and other items stolen. Johnson’s body was found by EMS. A vigil was held Sunday evening for Johnson outside her home. Police are linking Rodriguez to the crime.
On Saturday, the manager of a Mattress Firm on FM 1960 in the Willowbrook area found a 28year-old employee, Allie Barrow, shot in the head in the back office of the store around 7 p.m, about an hour before the store usually closes.
Barrow’s body was discovered stuffed between mattresses, ABC 13 reported.
Miranda Eason, a close friend of Barrow, described Barrow as “smart, loving and caring.” “She lit up the whole room,” Eason said. “Everyone loved her.”
Authorities have so far provided no background on the other fatally shot victim, a man found dead at a Mattress One store along the North Freeway.
Seen inside mall
Employees at the two stores next to where Barrow was found said they did not hear any gunshots. Barrow was likely the only employee in the store at the time, said Delores Mendoza, who works nearby.
“That lady never has customers,” Mendoza said.
Mattress Firm executives declined to discuss specifics of the shooting, but offered condolences to all who know the slain employee.
“We’re deeply saddened to learn that one of our team members was found deceased at a store in Houston,” Mattress Firm CEO Steve Stagner said in a statement. “We send our sincere condolences to this team member’s family, friends and loved ones.”
After Barrow’s killing, police were at the neighboring Willowbrook Mall, where a man suspected in Johnson’s death was seen on surveillance video walking inside the mall. Johnson’s missing car, a PT Cruiser, was found on Saturday in the parking lot.
Rodriguez’s alleged crime spree continued early Monday morning with a shooting near Frenchtown.
Houston police said a convenience store clerk heard gunshots at 2800 Quitman around 3:30 a.m., before a Metro driver walked up and said he’d been shot.
The 22-year-old bus driver, whose name has not yet been released, was taken to the hospital in an unknown condition, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority. He was shot in the abdomen.
By Monday afternoon, the driver was in critical condition, ABC 13 reported.
Next came a shooting at a different mattress store off Interstate 45 in north Houston.
At around 2:20 p.m. Monday, police received a call from the fire department requesting assistance in the 4400 block of North Freeway, said Jodi Silva, an HPD spokeswoman. When police arrived, they found a third victim, an unidentified man, Silva said.
The man was a team member at Mattress One and the firm issued condolences to his family and friends.
“We lost a valued team member and were very saddened by the events that transpired. We are fully cooperating with all law enforcement to quickly bring justice to this matter,” according to the Mattress One statement. “Out of respect for the team member, his family and the law enforcement investigation, we will refrain from commenting further at this time.”
‘Turn yourself in’
Homicide detectives with both the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff ’s Office, as well as investigators from the Houston Forensic Science Center, walked in and out of the mattress store as they conducted their investigation into the third death.
At the press conference, Acevedo urged Rodriguez — if he was watching — to give up. “Turn yourself in,” Acevedo said. “It will be much better for you.”
One of the last major serial killers identified in the Houston area was in 2011, when DNA connected a Houston man already charged in the death of a homeless woman to four other strangulations and authorities said he could be linked to more deaths.
Anyone with information is urged to call HPD Homicide at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).