Gun confiscated in Fifth Ward apartment complex accidentally fires, hits 11-year-old girl, HPD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An 11-year-old girl was hit in the buttocks when a gun discovered by a neighbor at a Fifth Ward apartment complex went off and went through a wall, police said.

The child was rushed to the hospital, where she’s stable.

The Houston Police Department said Northeast Patrol officers responded at about 9 p.m. to the 3000 block of Buck Street, which is located close by the US-59/I-10 interchange, in Houston’s Greater Fifth Ward, where dispatchers received reports of someone being shot by a stray round.

According to HPD Lt. Larry Crowson, a woman told officers that she had come across a gun while walking in the complex and confiscated it to keep it away from children.

While in her apartment, she reached out to a neighbor who she believed knew how to deal with guns, Crowson said.

The neighbor was examining the gun in the woman’s apartment when it went off, sending a bullet into the wall of an adjoining unit and hitting the girl, according to police.

The neighbor, whom police said is the stepfather of the 11-year-old, was detained for questioning. The case is being presented to the district attorney’s office to determine whether charges will be filed.

The incident marks the latest stray bullet-related investigation in the Houston area.

One of the more high-profile cases involving stray bullets took place last month in the Humble area, where a man is accused of causing a woman’s death as he opened fire at car burglars.