2 dead, 2 wounded in an apparent domestic dispute
Two women were killed and two men were critically wounded when an apparent domestic dispute escalated into a fatal shooting Sunday morning.
One of the dead women, a 28year-old mother of a 2-year-old who lived at the residence, allegedly was shot by her husband, also 28, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The owner of the home, a 65-year-old woman, also was fatally shot during the dispute. She was the mother of the alleged 28-year-old gunman who later was arrested by Harris County sheriff ’s deputies, Gonzalez said.
Just after 10 a.m. Sunday, deputies received reports of a verbal dispute between the two 28-yearolds in the 8700 block of Cypressbrook Drive. But soon, authorities said subsequent calls described a shooting in progress as deputies headed toward the scene.
The shooting took place mostly within the residence, according to preliminary information from investigators. “Firearm evidence” was located outside the home, however, suggesting there may also have been “a running gunbattle,” Gonzalez said.
The two men who were critically injured were believed to have approached the scene in an effort to de-escalate the situation, Gonzalez said. They also were believed to have been armed and to have fired shots during the violence. One of the men was married to the 65-year-old woman who was killed, officials said.
The 2-year-old living in the house was not injured during the shooting, Gonzalez confirmed. A male relative shielded the child as he ran the toddler from the home and away from danger, investigators said.
The two 28-year-olds had been involved in previous disputes, Gonzalez said, adding sheriff’s deputies were “familiar with this residence. “In a social media post preceding a news conference, Gonzalez said the shooting was said to have stemmed from a divorce or ongoing separation, but Gonzalez later could not confirm that.
Majeda Farhoud, 45, is a mother of six who lives two doors down from where the shooting occurred. Originally she thought she heard fireworks, but it quickly became evident that it was gunfire. She and her son, Anas, 16, reported hearing more than a dozen gunshots. They also reported hearing the deployment of a Taser from deputies who were attempting to get the alleged shooter to cooperate.
The Farhoud family moved to Houston from St. Louis in June. Majeda Farhoud said she was concerned for the safety of her 10year-old daughter in a neighborhood she had considered relatively safe, she said.
Narmeen Farhoud, Majeda’s 23-year-old daughter, explained the bus stop for her sister’s school is right in front of the house where the shooting occurred.
Narmeen said there have been shootings beyond the housing community in which they live, Copperbrook Homes, but she never expected them to happen on her street.
“There is always shootings like over there,” Narmeen said, pointing beyond the fence. “They told me that this part of this neighborhood is safe. But yet again, you never know who’s living in these homes, right? I would have never thought this would have happened.”
October is domestic violence awareness month in the U.S. Sunday alone, the first day of October, there were three local deaths directly attributed to domestic violence-related shootings in Harris County.
“This comes on the heels of an earlier family disturbance that occurred this morning,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a tragic 12 hours here in Harris County.”But Gonzalez also said the danger of domestic violence looms everywhere.
“Domestic violence is an epidemic that’s not only present here in our community, but across the country,” Gonzalez said.