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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A security guard shot and killed a man inside of a southeast Houston massage parlor Thursday morning, according to police.
HPD confirmed officers were called out to the business in the 10900 block of the Gulf Freeway at about 7:15 a.m. for a shooting in progress.
Upon arrival, officers found a man dead in the hallway of the business, and no employees were present, although the door to the business was unlocked.
A licensed security guard, who either worked at the massage parlor or at the strip center, remained on the scene. Sgt. Bill Elsbury with the HPD homicide division said it is believed that the security guard shot the man, who was believed to be a customer. The guard provided a statement to the police.
At the time of the interview, Elsbury was not sure if the dead man had a firearm on him.
“What I believe will happen is we will gather the facts, and it will be presented to a grand jury, and they’ll make a determination on whether they’ll move forward on this,” Elsbury said.
Investigators were not able to enter the business until after 2 p.m. Thursday because neither the owner nor any employees were present to grant them permission to enter. Instead, they obtained a search warrant.
An employee at a nearby business said a woman frantically ran to their business after the shooting happened, looking for help but was not speaking English. The employee said he could not understand what she was saying and called the police.
Shortly after, witnesses said two women got into a car and fled the parking lot.
Investigators on scene said they heard reports that the massage parlor had been robbed several times recently and intend to look into whether that played a role in this case.