A family from northwest Houston believes their story may save a life after they say their loved one survived a violent robbery during a date with a woman he met online.
The family wants to remain anonymous but said they are thankful the young man is alive.
He has a facial scar with four stitches from the incident.
“Thank God that was the only thing that happened to him,” said his sister.
“What they did was very cruel and very planned, so, I’m afraid that they’ve done this to multiple people before,” she added.
The family says the teenager is special needs.
“It’s not very simple for him. There are a lot of cruel people out there that take advantage of people like him,” his sister said.
The 19-year-old met the woman at a park near Landrum Middle School on Sunday.
They say the woman asked him for money, and when he said no, a man approached with a gun demanding his possessions.
The teenager turned to run, and the family says the man opened fire.
“He emptied the clip, but none of the bullets hit my brother. He accidentally fell. That’s when they were trying to fight each other, and the guy couldn’t handle my brother, so all he did was grab the gun and hit him in the face,” said his sister.
The 19-year-old found help and was taken to a hospital.
The gunman got away with his phone and $79 in cash. The family contacted the woman on social media, but they say she offered no help.
“We logged into his account and, we went through her Instagram. We saw a bunch of pictures of her with another man. We asked him [her brother], and we showed him the picture, is this the guy? And he told us, ‘Yes, that’s him,’” she said.
The woman’s page has since been deleted.
The family filed a police report and pinned the location of the teenager’s stolen phone to an apartment complex. Now they say they are waiting for the police.
“Right now, we are still waiting on investigators. They haven’t reached out to us. Hopefully, they will soon because we are trying to get them in jail because it could have been worse,” the sister said.