Houston police are investigating a double homicide after two people were found shot dead inside a home in the early hours of Sunday morning. According to the account given at a police briefing, officers were called to a shooting in the 12,000 block of Glen Hollow, where they discovered that two roommates had been killed by an unknown assailant, launching an active investigation into the deaths.
The alarm was raised in the middle of the night. According to the account, police were dispatched to a shooting that had just occurred at around 2 a.m., a little after two o'clock on the Sunday morning. When officers arrived at the scene, they met the people who had dialled 911 and were told that two of the home's residents had been shot and killed.
The two victims lived at the address together. According to the account, a man and a woman shared the home, one of them in their mid-20s and the other in their mid-30s, and both were shot and killed inside the residence. Investigators said the pair had been tentatively identified, but that their names were being withheld pending next-of-kin notification.
The person who reported the killings was not present when they happened. According to the account, the caller was the homeowner, who was not at the property at the time of the incident and learned of the shooting afterwards. He was taken to the police office, where detectives were speaking with him in an effort to gather any information that might help the inquiry.
Police made clear that the two victims were not responsible for one another's deaths. According to the account, investigators believe a third person was involved and that the roommates were shot by someone else, meaning a suspect remained unidentified and at large as the investigation got under way in the hours after the discovery.
Detectives were also examining the background of the address. According to the account, neighbours told police there had been a lot of activity at the particular house that may have been illegal, with officers looking into whether it was linked to drugs, though they stressed they could not yet be certain that this was a factor in the shooting.
The investigation remained at an early stage. According to the account, police were working to obtain surveillance footage from cameras at the home and were waiting for the medical examiner's office to establish how many shots had been fired. Detective Cory Sharp appealed for anyone with information to contact the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division or Crime Stoppers.