HOUSTON — Officers opened fire on five robbery suspects accused of holding up a Houston furniture store and who had been under surveillance for hours, killing two suspects and injuring two more, police said.
Police spokesman John Cannon said five police officers fired their weapons but that none was injured in the incident late Thursday at a shopping plaza adjacent to busy Interstate 45. He said a tactical team had been monitoring the group following a series of robberies earlier in the day.
One injured suspect was taken to a hospital with an undisclosed injury. Another was treated by paramedics at the scene then taken into custody, along with another suspect who was not hurt, Cannon said.
Cannon said Friday that officers fired on the group when at least one of the suspects pointed a weapon at them. Two guns belonging to the suspects were recovered at the scene.
A police tactical team had the suspects under surveillance throughout the day, but Cannon declined to explain why they weren’t apprehended before the holdup and shooting at the Affordable Furniture store.
He said the men had been changing vehicles during the day and that police lost sight of them for a while before catching up with the group as they exited the store Thursday night.
Harry Cheng, the manager of a Lumber Liquidators store adjacent to the furniture shop, said he was helping a customer and unaware that a robbery was in progress until he saw a police officer in SWAT gear through a window.
“He just told me to get down,” said Cheng. “And all of a sudden I heard gunshots.”
Cheng said he and the customer hugged the floor and heard but didn’t see an exchange of gunfire that lasted from three to five minutes.
He said he later saw police place one suspect into a police car and two other suspects, apparently wounded, being placed on gurneys.
Cannon said one of the suspects taken into custody was wearing an ankle monitor, but he didn’t have details of his criminal record.
A call to a spokesman for the Harris County district attorney’s office was not immediately returned Friday.
Taj Ali, the owner of Affordable Furniture, told The Associated Press that an employee who was inside during the holdup said the gunmen were wearing masks. The employee said one pointed a gun at her head and ordered her to lead them to the safe.
At that point, officers interrupted the robbery, shots were fired and one of the suspects yelled, “Time to go,” according to Ali.
He said police told him the suspects were gang members and expressed surprise that they targeted a furniture store. Officers took the store’s surveillance footage to review as part of the investigation.
The suspect who was not hurt had posed as a store employee and tried to hide in a truck parked in front of the business, Cannon said.
Cannon said it wasn’t immediately clear if the suspects had fired any shots but that investigators would analyze shell casings to account for all shots that were fired. He said the group was already suspected in multiple robberies in the area Thursday but didn’t elaborate.
