Shooting killswoman, wounds 3 deputies
Suspect caught after fight at Midtown clubsent the off-duty officersworking security tohospital
A fight at a Midtown nightclub left a woman dead and three offdutyHarris County Sheriff’sOffice deputies wounded early Sunday when a man opened fire in the parking lot, according to police.
The deputies, each of whom was uniformed, were working security at Set club at 2900 Travis Street and tried breaking up the fight around 2:20 a.m. in the parking lot— about 20minutes after the bar closed for the night, Houston police Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner said. Patrol officers dispatched to a shots fired call at the club and found four people shot, including the deputies.
A civilian, a woman in her 40s, died at a hospital, Finner said. She was not identified.
The suspected shooter, believed to be a man in his 20s, was later apprehended at a Sugar Land hospital, where he tried to receive medical treatment for a gunshot wound, Finner continued.
By daybreak, large pools of blood and discarded plates of tacos remained in the club parking lot, as well as a lone deputy keepingwatching over the crime scene.
The three deputies — two men and a woman whose ages range from their 30s to 40s — spent Sunday recovering at a hospital, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. They were conscious and in “good spirits,” the sheriff’s office said. One 41year-old deputy was released by Sunday night.
“All of them are fairly seasoned deputies,” the sheriff said.
The shooting capped a rough day for the sheriff’s office. Off-duty sheriff’s Sgt. Bruce Watson was killed Saturday afternoon in a motorcycle crash while on his way home fromserving as a funeral escort in the Pearland area. The sheriff, during the news briefing, marked the day as tragic.
“Feeling both grief and gratitude today,” the sheriff said in a later tweet. “Reminded that there is stillmourning left to do, and a new calendar year doesn’t change that.”
HPD’s Special Investigations Unit will lead the shooting investigation, while the sheriff’s office and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office will conduct reviews.
Mayor Sylvester Turner blasted the club in a tweet for fashioning itself as a restaurant during the pandemic. He said that while the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has allowed
Set to continue operating, hewould not guarantee similar freedoms through the Harris County government.
“This is a straight up nightclub and should not have been open,” Turner said.
Police were dispatched to the same club last May after four men were shot in the parking lot. All are believed to have survived. In that shooting, the fight started in the club and continued outside.