HOUSTON – Houston police are searching for at least three suspects who they said were involved in two robberies, not even a block away from each other on Thursday evening.
The robberies took place at two stores located on Mangum and Lamonte Street around 10:30 p.m.
Police said two suspects went into a convenience store located at 3801 Mangum Road and forced their way into the secured register area where they shot the clerk in the shoulder and took $400.
“The register clerk sees them going towards the door that comes into the security office area. He reaches over to try to shut the door as quickly as he can, but he doesn’t succeed. They get to him quickly. They shoot one time and shoot him in the shoulder. So they actually make entry into that security area where the register is,” said HPD Sgt. R. Willkens.
The third suspect went into a store at 3825 Mangum. Police said that suspect took one employee hostage and attempted to force a second employee out of a secured area. That employee refused and that’s when police say the suspect fired into the bulletproof glass trying to get in, without any luck.
“That suspect over there, he takes his pistol and he’s holding the one clerk at gunpoint, threatening the other clerk, telling him to open it up. And when she refuses to, the suspect then shoots numerous times at the bulletproof glass, like somewhere between 10 to 15 times at the bulletproof glass,” said Willkens.
The clerk was able to lock the suspect inside the customer area. The two other suspects were able to shoot out the glass in the front doors, allowing the third suspect to escape.
The clerk who was shot at the store on Mangum was transported to the hospital and is expected to survive.
Police said the suspects were in their teens and got away in a black sedan.