HOUSTON – A father and son were both shot during what police say may have been an attempted robbery outside their South Houston home.
It happened at around 10 p.m. Sunday on Louisiana Street and State Street.
"I was watching TV and all of a sudden I heard, pow, pow, pow. Three shots, then I heard two shots," neighbor Emily Garcia told KPRC Local 2.
Garcia is the family's landlord and lives across the street from where the shooting took place. Investigators say robbery was likely the motive in the late night attack.
According to South Houston police, the 20-year-old son was taking the trash out when he was approached by a man with a gun. The son and the suspect got into an altercation when the suspect pulled out a gun and opened fire. The son was shot three times in the upper torso.
The father heard the commotion and went outside to see what was going on. That is when he was approached by another gunman and the two of them began to struggle, police say. The father was shot once, and both suspects fled the scene.
Speaking in Spanish, the father, Vrijido Velasquez, said the men never said a word or made any demands.
Velasquez was shot in the abdomen and treated at a local hospital. He was at home Monday afternoon, but was worried about his son, Francisco, who is still hospitalized. Francisco, 20, is married.
The shooting has left many of the family's neighbors shaken.
"I'm going to have to talk with him," said Garcia. "I live here by myself. I'm old and I don't want no problems with nobody. I'm scared."
The son was flown by LifeFlight in critical condition and the father was taken by ambulance in serious condition.
Police say they do not have a description of the two men and believe the motive was an attempted robbery.