A quiet residential street in the Cypress area of northwest Harris County became a crime scene overnight. A husband and wife are dead after what investigators are calling an apparent murder-suicide inside their home.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office laid out its early reading of the scene. Investigators say they believe a man shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself.
The discovery came from within the family. The couple's adult son woke up early this morning to the sound of gunshots, then went into his parents' bedroom and found them shot to death.
He was the one who summoned help. After finding his parents dead, the son called 911.
Deputies were able to narrow down when it happened. They say the shooting took place between 2:30 and 3 a.m. on the 1300 block of Campos Drive, and confirmed that the couple, in their mid-to-late 70s, were dead at the scene.
Physical evidence, authorities say, pointed in one direction. Investigators say what they found at the home indicated a murder-suicide, with the husband shooting his wife before turning the weapon on himself.
The couple's sons cooperated fully with the investigation. The son who lived in the house and found them was briefly detained but has since been released and is not a suspect, and an older son who lives nearby was also on the scene when deputies arrived and gave a statement, with the sheriff's office describing both as 100% cooperative.
Authorities described a couple with no obvious warning signs. They had been married more than 40 years, with no prior 911 calls to the home and no serious medical or mental health issues, and the sheriff's office said there were no telltale signs that something like this would happen.
The case is being handled with full rigor even so. Deputies say the bodies have been removed and an autopsy will be performed, and while the evidence points to a murder-suicide, they are still treating it as a homicide as they process what they recovered, with the victims' identities not yet released.