HOUSTON – Police were investigating after a man was hit by a car then shot in the face near Houston's Sunnyside neighborhood Wednesday night.
Officers said the victim, identified as Durell Taylor, was pumping gas in the 9400 block of Cullen Blvd. when another man armed with an assault rifle began chasing Taylor around the street.
Witnesses said Taylor, whose car was still running at a gas pump, ran out into the street.
"He was running across the street and a little black Nissan over there hit him so hard, it knocked his pants off," said witness Marsia Zamora.
They said while Taylor was down, another man walked up and shot him.
"Some man walked up on him and shot him in the face four times," said Zamora.
"I heard the gunshots, and I saw the fire coming from the gun," Chris, who was at Cullen and Wilmington Street, said. He saw a man go down, and another man walk off with a gun.
"He fled off from the scene of the crime with a sawed-off shotgun," said Chris.
Taylor, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene.
As officers arrived, the crowd surrounding the crime scene grew with family and friends showing raw emotion. Officers even had to call an ambulance for a woman, believed to be the victim's mother.
Many of these people, like Zamora, lived nearby and worried for their safety, especially with the gunman on the loose.
"I hope they do catch him, because this is wrong what they did," said Zamora.
The suspect is described as a thin black male, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 130 pounds with a mustache. He fled in a 2006 gold, four-door Chevrolet Impala.
Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.