5 things for Houstonians to know for Wednesday, Jan. 12

Shortage of medications on shelves

1. 12-year-old says masked gunman signaled him to be quiet before shooting, killing grandmother at SE Houston home, family says

The Garrett family is devastated, trying to process what happened in their home Monday evening after Houston police said a masked man walked in and opened fire, killing a grandmother and wounding her adult son.

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Police said Maria Garrett, 69, her 34-year-old son and 12-year-old grandson were inside their home in the 11700 block of Segrest Drive shortly before 7 p.m. when a man entered and immediately began shooting.

Maria Garrett was shot several times and died at the scene. Her son was shot in the stomach and shoulder, and transported to the hospital in critical condition. The grandson was not injured.

Her other son said he doesn’t know why anyone would want to hurt his family.

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2. 12-year-old girl stalked through social media, sexually assaulted in her home as parents slept in next room, mother says

A woman who we are purposely choosing not to identify said her family has been living out a nightmare since several days ago.

“This happened when my baby was in our house, in her room, and he covered her mouth and told her to shut up,” the woman explained. “It feels like I’m dying inside. And I look at my husband and I can see him dying inside because we couldn’t stop it.”

The woman said 28-year-old Pedro António Hernandez Guzman forced her 12-year-old daughter inside their home and sexually assaulted her.

“She’s acting like she’s not in her body. She doesn’t know how to feel about what happened. She’s confused,” the mother said.

Prosecutors said Guzman met the girl by approaching her near a school bus stop, then preyed on her through social media. After the attack, authorities said he came back again, but this time he was met with a surprise.

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3. ‘I couldn’t bring her back’: 15-year-old girl shot 22 times in southwest Houston while walking family dog, police say

Houston police are investigating a shooting they said left a 15-year-old girl dead in southwest Houston Tuesday night.

Officers with the Houston Police Department were called to the scene in the 15400 block of Park Manor around 9:30 p.m.

When units arrived at the scene, officers said they found the 15-year-old girl, who has been identified by her family as Diamond Alvarez, with multiple gunshot wounds. Police said she was pronounced dead at the scene.

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4. Houston experiencing shortages of over-the-counter medications

There’s a variety of supplies out of stock in stores across the country, and now that cold and flu season is upon us, it’s adding to the shipping and manufacturing headaches with over-the-counter medications.

At a CVS in southeast Houston, cold and flu meds are sparse.

At a Walgreens in Missouri City, there were holes where some sinus meds are typically stocked.

At a Target in Stafford, they’re limiting how much Pepcid customers can buy.

Plus, no surprise everywhere, due to high demand, no COVID rapid tests were anywhere to be found

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5. Family given wrong COVID-19 test results in Houston lab error

A Katy woman said she received another patient’s COVID-19 test results Tuesday from a laboratory linked to other testing issues.

Bobbie Weary said she received a text Tuesday morning with test results she thought were for either herself or her granddaughter. Weary said when she clicked on the link and pulled up the portal, she received results belonging to someone she did not know.

“When I opened it up, I entered my information and it said incorrect individual, so I said this must be my grandbaby,” Weary said. “Under her information, it came up, but it came up with somebody else’s results and somebody else’s name.”

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