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“Rolling Gunfight on Southwest Freeway Kills 1”
The Houston Chronicle ^ | 4-17-07 | Robert Crowe and Kevin Moran

Posted on 04/19/2007 9:28:43 PM PDT by BnBlFlag

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “April 17, 2007, 5:15PM Rolling gunfight on Southwest Freeway kills 1 Several others wounded in possible battle between rival smugglers

TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Subscribe NOW Recommend At least one man was killed and several 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 attempting to steal a load of immigrants from the other.

“It’s unknown if it was a coyote operation or a rip of some sort,” said Sgt. C.E. Elliott of the Houston Police Department homicide division. “ ... We’re still looking at that.”

About noon, the occupants of two trucks — one carrying at least 10 people — exchanged gunfire while heading northbound on the freeway, Elliott said. The vehicles exited at Bissonnet and ran a red light before one truck crashed into an older model Honda Accord that was not part of the chase.

Elliott said the occupants of the two trucks “then proceeded to get out of their vehicles to have a shootout.”

One man collapsed beneath the overpass, on Bissonnet, apparently from gunshot wounds.

“Not only was he shot, but one of the vehicles that fled the scene ran over him,” Elliott said. That man’s condition was unknown.

One pickup fled north on the feeder road and stopped in a strip center parking lot about one block away. The truck 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.

The shopping center 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, with officials’ closing off the northbound feeder road and diverting traffic onto Bissonnet.”