© Bob Levey / AFP A Houston Police Department investigator photograph a vehicle that received gunshot damage at a scene where nine were wounded in a strip mall shooting on September 26, 2016 in Houston, Texas.
A man opened fire on commuters near a strip mall in southwest Houston, Texas, early Monday morning, wounding nine people before being shot and killed by police. A bomb squad is searching what is believed to be the suspect's car.
Eyewitnesses, many of whom were traveling along Weslayen Street in the West University Place neighborhood, said a
gunman carrying a revolver opened fire, shooting dozens of bullets beginning around 6:20am local time.The Houston Police Department (HPD) confirmed "an active shooter situation in a shopping center near the corner of Weslayan and Bissonnet in southwest Houston
," and that
police killed the suspect while he exchanged gunfire with officers. HPD said it considers the scene "still active" but contained. A bomb squad is checking a Porsche believed to have belonged to the suspect near The Oaks condominiums on Law Street.
The HPD
said nine people were injured amid the gunshots, one of whom is in critical condition. The FBI said its agents are on the scene.
The HPD said the suspect is "reportedly a lawyer," and that the car police searched "had additional weapons inside."
HPD Interim Chief Martha Montalvo told reporters that the gunman was
having problems at the firm for which he worked and that police were searching the shooter's social media. Montalvo would not identify the suspect. The HPD said it will also search the suspect's home.
The Porsche is registered to attorney
Nathan Desai, according to KPRC's Aaron Wische.
Witness Antoine Wilson, who told KTRK that he was traveling near the scene at the time of the shots, said: "I literally hear the gunshots pass my face" as he was attempting to understand what was occurring.
"It was a whole bunch of shooting, and I had [rolled] my window down to see what was going on ... and didn't realize that I was right there by the shooter," Wilson said, adding he did not see the gunman.
"The first shots came into my friend windows. My front window was shot through four times, my side window was shot," another eyewitness told KTRK. "We don't know where the shooter was. I don't know if he was on foot or where he was."
Many commuters had vehicles with bullet holes and busted windows, according to local reports.
The wife of a shooting victim relayed to KTRK the harrowing story of her husband being shot at the scene.
"All I know is that he was screaming on the phone, 'I'm hit, Jen, I'm hit,'" she said. "I go into hysterics, I call my best friend and her husband is a sergeant for HPD. And basically they told me, 'Get down, it's a hot zone right now. There are cops everywhere on the ground'."
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said officials believe the shooter was acting alone.
"The motivation appears to be a lawyer whose relationship with his law firm went bad," Turner told reporters.
Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a message of sympathy for the victims of Monday's shooting.
Comment: Update:
Houston Gunman Had 2 Weapons, Thousands of Rounds at SceneSix of the shooting victims are in area hospitals, one is in serious condition and another is critical. The attorney has been identified as Nathan DeSai. Police have found two guns and 2500 rounds of live ammunition; a search of his home has revealed a collection of vintage military items dating to the Civil War and other guns. So far, there is no indication that a second suspect was involved. The FBI is assisting with the investigation.
DeSai's former law partner, Kenneth McDaniel, countered reports that that DeSai was 'disgruntled' over the dissolution of the business, saying the firm's closure had been prompted by a falloff in business because of the recent recession. McDaniel said he had worked with DeSai for about 12 years although he had not been in contact with him recently.
The property manager of DeSai's condo complex, said DeSai was involved in two recent incidents at the complex. In August, police were called after roofers working in the complex said DeSai pointed an assault-style rifle at them. Last week, DeSai became upset because of water pressure problems at his home, asked for maintenance help and expressed his displeasure in an email to the management firm that implied he'd "intimidate his way to getting what he was asking for".
Isn't this the one in which the reported 'shooter' was said, by witnesses, to have looked like a zombie? glassy eyed etc? So.....