Cypress murder-suicide ends in church parking lot
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
A man fatally shot his estranged wife and wounded another man outside her northwest Harris County apartment Thursday then drove to a nearby church parking lot where he killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide, authorities said.
Sheriff's deputies were called about 9 a.m. to the victim's apartment complex on Louetta near Texas Highway 249 after residents reported hearing gunfire.
"They found a female who had been shot to death and a man with non life-threatening injuries," said Sgt. Rolf Nelson, with the Harris County sheriff's homicide division.
The man was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. "We have investigators down there to talk to him," Nelson said.
The gunman fled, setting off an intense search of the area that ended about an hour later when his body was discovered in a vacant parking lot behind New Start Community Church on Hufsmith-Kohrville Road near Spring Cypress.
Juan Rubalcaba spotted the man pacing around his car only minutes before he apparently killed himself. He drove up to ask if the man, who was now talking on a cell phone, needed any help.
"He put two guns in my face and said, 'Go away,'" Rubalcaba said. "I left right away and I called the police."
Bruce Reynolds, a caretaker at the church, was at home drinking a cup of coffee when he heard the gunfire.
"I knew it wasn't firecrackers. I can tell the difference," Reynolds said. "I thought somebody was shooting at animals in the woods."
Reynolds went outside and spotted the man lying near his car. Several deputies then began arriving and set up crime scene tape around the area.
"He's got a gunshot wound that appears to be self-inflicted," Nelson said.
Investigators searched the area and quickly found a pair of semi-automatic pistols near the man's body.
His car — a PT Cruiser sedan — had been rented. Detectives found the man's passport and a receipt for an airline ticket. They also discovered a suitcase and a briefcase in the car.
The woman killed earlier listed the man found in the church parking lot on her apartment lease agreement as her emergency contact.
"But, he was not listed as an occupant," Nelson said.
Detectives declined to speculate on the relationship between the woman and the wounded man. The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
The identities of the slain woman and her estranged husband were withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.
