HOUSTON – A child died and six other people were injured in a shooting outside a club Sunday in Independence Heights, according to Houston police.
Family told KPRC2 the deceased victim was 13-year-old Angel Morales. Police also said two adult women and a teen were shot and two other teens were hit by flying glass.
Morales' mother, Olga Valeriano, said she is devastated by her son’s death, which she knew of at 7 p.m. Sunday. She said her son was just caught in the crossfire, and that she didn't even know her he was at the block party, because if she had known, she would have never let him go.
The grieving mother is also pleading with those who killed her son to turn themselves in.
"I want them to pay and for them to face justice, because he was he a good kid," Valeriano said. "He had no mean bone in him. And the pain that I'm bearing right now is too much."
Neighbors told KPRC2 that at one point, there were about 200 people at the party, which turned to chaos when shots rang out around 7 p.m. in the 4000 block of Yale Street.
Police said a man tried to enter the club where both juveniles and adults were but he was turned away for refusing to be patted down as part of the club's rules. Police said shortly after, the man returned and opened fire, killing one person and injuring six others.
Parents who took their kids to the party said it was supposed to be a family-friendly event, but a fight between several men ended in gunshots. Promise Jeffery told KPRC2 that she had to crawl from the street to under a nearby car to protect her children from the bullets.
Dozens of gunshots could be heard in cell phone video of the shooting.
"A couple dudes got into and then they left and then they started shooting from each angle,” Jeffery said. “… just shooting everywhere. I was running with my kids, I was trying to cover them because I did not want my kids to get shot."
Police said three children and an adult were taken to a hospital by a private vehicle.
Police said no arrests have been made and they are still looking for the suspect. There is more than one shooter since police said there was crossfire during the exchange.
"Call police, help me find the people who did this to my son. In order for them not to be able to do this to other people’s children," Valeriano said.
Police are still interviewing witnesses and processing the area because it was a large scene. There is no update on the conditions of the other victims.
Family members told KPRC that Morales was a student at MC Williams Middle School.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help pay for Morales' funeral expenses.