BAYTOWN – Police said a teenager was protecting his grandmother's house when he grabbed a gun and shot two suspected burglars Wednesday morning.
The shooting happened around 5:45 a.m. at a home on Brentwood near Memorial. Police said the homeowner's 18-year-old grandson awoke to two burglars trying to get inside his home.
"He heard voices at the back end of the residence and then heard the door being kicked in," said Edgar Elizondo with the Baytown Police Department.
Officials said the teenager grabbed his shotgun, which was under the couch he was sleeping on, and shot both suspects.
"Situations like this we are going to see more often because more Texans have guns," said Elizondo.
One suspect, 40-year-old Charles Allen Dixon III, was taken to San Jacinto Methodist Hospital where he later died.
The second suspect, 26-year-old Michael McDaniel, was taken to San Jacinto Hospital by two women in a green pickup truck. McDaniel was later airlifted to Memorial Herman Hospital in Houston in critical condition. Police said Dixon had a prior conviction for burglary of a habitation.
Police believe the pickup was used in an earlier burglary on Kilgrore Street. A neighbor reported seeing a pickup leaving a vacant house around 4:50 a.m. Police responded to the break-in and an investigator was still there when they got reports of the shooting across town.
The two women who took McDaniels to the hospital were questioned and released. One of the women told police she received a call from McDaniel who told her he had been shot as he drove himself to an apartment complex where she was spending the night. The woman and a second female, later identified as Dixon's wife, drove McDaniel to the hospital, according to Baytown police.
Officials said this was not the first time crooks had broken into the home this month. The home was last burglarized on August 3.
As for the teen, police said he had just finished an internship with the Harris County Police Explorers. He was not injured. The teen's grandmother owns the home but is currently living in a nursing home.
Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to call the Baytown Police Department at 281-422-8371.