Firefighters responded to a fire in southwest Houston early Sunday to find four people — including two children — shot to death.
“When anybody dies in our city, it upsets us,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a press conference, according to Click 2 Houston. “But when it’s innocent kids, it’s even more upsetting.”
Finner said firefighters put the fire out quickly and identified one adult female and one adult male in their 50s, and a boy and girl who appear to be between 10 and 13 years old. HPD hasn’t been able to reach the next of kin, as they remain very early in the investigation, so the names of the victims have not yet been made public.
“I don’t feel that this is a random event,” Finner said. “There’s no forced entry.” He said he suspects it is a case of domestic violence.
According to a local report, neighbors described the slain family as good neighbors. “I used to see the woman (who lives inside the home) go by every day with her kids,” Jesus Lara said.
Lara, who lives several houses down, said he didn’t hear gunshots but saw the fire’s smoke. He said he knocked on the door but couldn’t open it due to the smoke.
Finner said that while he didn’t know if the fire was a coverup for other crimes, it was not unusual for people to use such a method to try to hide or destroy evidence. He added that HPD felt “good about what’s left on the scene.”
The chief asked anyone who knows anything about the shootings to call the Houston Police Department of Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
Family violence is treated as a crime by the Family Violence Unit of the Houston Police Department. The crime of family violence — or what is commonly called domestic abuse — is committed by someone known to the victim intimately, by blood or any other special relationship.
According to the Houston Police Department, 7% of all Texans indicate that they, a family member, and/or a friend or coworker have experienced some form of domestic violence, either physical, sexual or verbal, in their lifetime.
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