At least three people were shot dead and two were injured after a shooting took place at a short-term rental home in Harris County, outside Houston Saturday.
Officials found two dead people as they responded to the scene while the third one succumbed to injuries at the hospital.
As the officers arrived at the scene, it was chaotic in the city of Katy.
Authorities did not release the identities of the victims however, they said the people who attended the gathering were mostly in their twenties
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said during a press conference: “We believe this was a small gathering that turned deadly.”
Sheriff also noted that investigators aren’t sure whether the suspected shooter or shooters were already inside the house, or if someone came uninvited to the house and began opening fire.
There is also evidence of shots being fired outside the house along the street, he added.
“Police are working to investigate the shooting and identify suspects and determine if other people were injured,” Gonzalez said.
Earlier, @HCSOTexas deputies responded to a scene at the 4600 blk of Russet Leaf Trace. Preliminary: three persons are deceased on-scene and other wounded persons may be enroute to the hospital. Location is a residence, possibly a short-term rental. #HouNews pic.twitter.com/8VBdg0JYfq
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) January 21, 2024
This shooting comes weeks after the Perry High School shooting that occurred on January 4 killing two people.
The mass shooting incidents raised concerns about gun violence which is a prevalent issue in the US. According to the data, firearms outnumber the population in the US, and attempts to address their spread face substantial political resistance.
The United States has already witnessed three mass shootings in the early days of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an NGO defining a mass shooting as an incident resulting in four or more people wounded or killed.
School shootings, in particular, serve as poignant reminders of the political deadlock surrounding gun control. In a tragic incident in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022, a man took the lives of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school.
