Suspect in shooting says he was a hostage

A man is in custody after he called police Thursday night and reported that he fatally shot a drug-using house guest that morning who held him and his wife hostage for days in north Houston, officials said.

Tracy B. Miles, 46, faces a charge of felon in possession of a weapon in the incident that sent authorities to a corner market at 330 Rosamond Street about 11:30 p.m. Miles told police he had shot someone at a different location and explained the circumstances of the shooting, said Lt. E. Pavel of the Houston Police Department.

Police recovered a gun in the bathroom of the corner store where the man told them it would be, Pavel said.

Miles then took officers to his apartment on the 200 block of Rosamond Street where the shooting happened, Pavel said. Officers found a 34-year-old man dead with a gunshot wound to the head inside the apartment.

Miles told authorities that the victim had been staying at his apartment for a few days, Pavel said. However, the guest allegedly started smoking meth and did not allow the man and his wife to leave their home, holding them at gunpoint.

The shooting happened Thursday morning when the guest again refused to let the couple leave their residence. It’s unclear how the tenant obtained a gun.

Homicide investigators responded to the scene to “see exactly what occurred,” Pavel said. The victim was not identified.

“There’s still a lot of questions obviously, since the shooting appears to have happened in the morning,” Pavel said. “Our first question is, why did you wait so long (to report it)?”

Miles has been convicted on a felony cocaine possession charge. No charges have been filed against him in the shooting.