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04-18-07, 10:50 AM
Freeway gunbattle ends in death
One killed, two hurt when human smugglers clash
By ROBERT CROWE and KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
One man was killed and at least two were wounded when rival immigrant smuggling gangs engaged in a noontime gunbattle that started on the Southwest Freeway and ended on the feeder road, police said.
Authorities suspect one gang was trying to steal a load of immigrants from the other.
"It's unknown if it was a 'coyote' operation or a rip of some sort," Sgt. C.E. Elliott of the Houston Police Department's homicide division said. " ... We're still looking at that."
Police worked into the evening in an attempt to sort out what happened at the "chaotic" scene, which also ensnared an innocent bystander, left at least one other person critically injured and tied up traffic for hours.
It was hardly the city's first smuggling-related violence. For decades, Houston has been considered a major distribution hub for human traffickers, who sometimes hold immigrants in "stash houses" while family members try to raise thousands of dollars for their release.
Last April 24, one man was wounded in a shootout at a house in northwest Houston in what federal authorities described as an apparent battle between rival smugglers over control of the immigrants. Police found 10 Mexicans, three Hondurans and two Guatemalans in a locked closet inside.
A month earlier, gunfire erupted at a southwest Houston neighborhood, and two men were wounded in an apparent turf war between rival smugglers. Twenty-one immigrants were arrested at that house.In the latest incident, a silver Ford pickup carrying at least 10 people left the freeway at Bissonnet and had stopped in traffic about noon Tuesday when two men from a green Chevy approached on foot and shot into the vehicle.
The silver pickup ran a red light before crashing into a Honda Accord that was not part of the chase. Passengers from the pickup began to jump out and run away as gunshots continued to ring out. The truck fled north on the feeder road and stopped in a strip center parking lot about one block away. Its remaining occupants fled, police said. It had three flat tires, its passenger windows were shot out and at least five bullet holes riddled the exterior; one man inside was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another man, apparently a passenger in the silver pickup, collapsed beneath the overpass on Bissonnet.
"Not only was he shot, but one of the vehicles that fled the scene ran over him," Elliott said. He said the man was in "extremely critical condition" Tuesday night at Ben Taub General Hospital.
A third man who showed up at a local hospital saying he had been shot in the arm while walking by the scene was being interviewed after getting treatment elsewhere, Elliott said.
The shopping center where the shootout ended includes a Chinese restaurant, Chase Bank branch and the Wiz-Kid Childcare Learning Center. Also nearby is the Star Kids Daycare.
The incident caused a traffic backup that lasted for hours, when officials closed the northbound feeder road and diverted traffic onto Bissonnet.
Truck parts and articles of clothing, including a shoe, were strewn around the intersection, and the roadway was stained with blood. Crime scene investigators had taped off the area and marked the location of two bullet casings.
Police were searching for the second vehicle, described as a green Chevy pickup with Texas plates 26R JS2.
"It's a very chaotic scene out here," Elliott said. He said several people fled, complicating police efforts to figure out how many were involved.
A local spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday night that she had no information about whether smuggling was involved, but said the agency will help HPD in the case.
"They have asked us for our assistance," said Luisa Deason, ICE spokeswoman in Houston.
Meanwhile, local immigrants rights activist Maria Jimenez noted that tighter security at the Texas-Mexico border has led to increased violence between competing smugglers.
Last spring, an ICE official told Congress the same thing.
Marcy Foreman, director of ICE's Office of Investigations, testified that the agency "is acutely aware of the recent increase in violence along both sides of the border." Foreman cited a case in McAllen, where two women from Central America were found beaten and naked on the side of the road.
"Their captors intimidated the victims by shooting weapons into the walls and ceiling as they raped them," he testified.
Houston police urge anyone who witnessed the shooting, particularly anyone who may have noted a license plate number, to call HPD homicide at 713-308-3600.
And the Mayor of Houston said this morning that there is no problem here with illegal alien crime, because the illegals who are criminals have been told that they are not welcome. This was in response to Representative Ted Poe bringing up the fact AGAIN that since Houston is a "sanctuary city" the problem is only going to get worse.
One killed, two hurt when human smugglers clash
By ROBERT CROWE and KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
One man was killed and at least two were wounded when rival immigrant smuggling gangs engaged in a noontime gunbattle that started on the Southwest Freeway and ended on the feeder road, police said.
Authorities suspect one gang was trying to steal a load of immigrants from the other.
"It's unknown if it was a 'coyote' operation or a rip of some sort," Sgt. C.E. Elliott of the Houston Police Department's homicide division said. " ... We're still looking at that."
Police worked into the evening in an attempt to sort out what happened at the "chaotic" scene, which also ensnared an innocent bystander, left at least one other person critically injured and tied up traffic for hours.
It was hardly the city's first smuggling-related violence. For decades, Houston has been considered a major distribution hub for human traffickers, who sometimes hold immigrants in "stash houses" while family members try to raise thousands of dollars for their release.
Last April 24, one man was wounded in a shootout at a house in northwest Houston in what federal authorities described as an apparent battle between rival smugglers over control of the immigrants. Police found 10 Mexicans, three Hondurans and two Guatemalans in a locked closet inside.
A month earlier, gunfire erupted at a southwest Houston neighborhood, and two men were wounded in an apparent turf war between rival smugglers. Twenty-one immigrants were arrested at that house.In the latest incident, a silver Ford pickup carrying at least 10 people left the freeway at Bissonnet and had stopped in traffic about noon Tuesday when two men from a green Chevy approached on foot and shot into the vehicle.
The silver pickup ran a red light before crashing into a Honda Accord that was not part of the chase. Passengers from the pickup began to jump out and run away as gunshots continued to ring out. The truck fled north on the feeder road and stopped in a strip center parking lot about one block away. Its remaining occupants fled, police said. It had three flat tires, its passenger windows were shot out and at least five bullet holes riddled the exterior; one man inside was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another man, apparently a passenger in the silver pickup, collapsed beneath the overpass on Bissonnet.
"Not only was he shot, but one of the vehicles that fled the scene ran over him," Elliott said. He said the man was in "extremely critical condition" Tuesday night at Ben Taub General Hospital.
A third man who showed up at a local hospital saying he had been shot in the arm while walking by the scene was being interviewed after getting treatment elsewhere, Elliott said.
The shopping center where the shootout ended includes a Chinese restaurant, Chase Bank branch and the Wiz-Kid Childcare Learning Center. Also nearby is the Star Kids Daycare.
The incident caused a traffic backup that lasted for hours, when officials closed the northbound feeder road and diverted traffic onto Bissonnet.
Truck parts and articles of clothing, including a shoe, were strewn around the intersection, and the roadway was stained with blood. Crime scene investigators had taped off the area and marked the location of two bullet casings.
Police were searching for the second vehicle, described as a green Chevy pickup with Texas plates 26R JS2.
"It's a very chaotic scene out here," Elliott said. He said several people fled, complicating police efforts to figure out how many were involved.
A local spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday night that she had no information about whether smuggling was involved, but said the agency will help HPD in the case.
"They have asked us for our assistance," said Luisa Deason, ICE spokeswoman in Houston.
Meanwhile, local immigrants rights activist Maria Jimenez noted that tighter security at the Texas-Mexico border has led to increased violence between competing smugglers.
Last spring, an ICE official told Congress the same thing.
Marcy Foreman, director of ICE's Office of Investigations, testified that the agency "is acutely aware of the recent increase in violence along both sides of the border." Foreman cited a case in McAllen, where two women from Central America were found beaten and naked on the side of the road.
"Their captors intimidated the victims by shooting weapons into the walls and ceiling as they raped them," he testified.
Houston police urge anyone who witnessed the shooting, particularly anyone who may have noted a license plate number, to call HPD homicide at 713-308-3600.
And the Mayor of Houston said this morning that there is no problem here with illegal alien crime, because the illegals who are criminals have been told that they are not welcome. This was in response to Representative Ted Poe bringing up the fact AGAIN that since Houston is a "sanctuary city" the problem is only going to get worse.