Nine detained after three shot during human smuggling operation in Houston, police say
Nine people were detained in Houston after at least three people were shot during what authorities described as a human smuggling operation.
Officers with the Houston Police Department responded to reports of gunfire Wednesday at an IHOP restaurant on West Sam Houston Parkway in the Westchase neighborhood. When they arrived on the scene around 11:30 a.m., officers were met by two men — one of them suffering a gunshot wound to the arm — who said “that they had escaped from a human smuggling situation at a nearby hotel,” according to Houston Police Commander Jonathan Halliday.
The victims explained that the shooting occurred earlier in the morning in the greater San Antonio area, a couple hours away from the IHOP.
“We believe they were being smuggled and they were brought to this area after the shooting occurred,” Halliday told reporters.
Both victims were taken to a nearby hospital, though only one of them was wounded.
Another two men, who also escaped from the nearby Motel Six, showed up at the hospital a few hours later. One of them was shot in the leg while the other suffered a wound to arm. Halliday said it was not immediately clear how they got themselves to the medical facility.
The gunshot victims, all of them male between their 30s and 40s, were in stable condition on Thursday and expected to survive their wounds.
Authorities said they had reason to believe a fourth person was shot, but they have not been able to locate the individual.
“We continue to check hospitals for anyone else that might be connected to this incident,” Halliday told reporters.
Officers stopped two cars exiting the Motel Six and detained a total of nine people. Halliday noted some of those in custody could also actually be victims. They also searched several hotel rooms, but no one else was found. None of the identities of those involved have been released and their nationalities were not yet known.
Halliday said it’s not clear where the group was traveling from nor where they were headed. An investigation into the matter is ongoing.
