Woman hides as husband, friend gunned down outside NE Harris County

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- When Juan Castro and his wife arrived home with a family friend around 2am Sunday, deputies say they were ambushed.

Four Hispanic men approached the couple and the female friend and allegedly demanded money, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

It all unfolded at the family's home on Mohawk Street in northeast Harris County, where Castro's son says he soon heard something.

"I heard noises," he says. "I wanted to say it was fireworks, since we're close to the 4th of July."

Only, it was something much more sinister. It was gunfire, and in the cross-hairs were the female friend and Castro's own father.

Deputies say Castro's wife hid underneath a vehicle as the robbery suspects opened fire, the couple's friend struck as she tried to run away. She died at the scene.

"I heard a lot of screaming," Castro's son says. He saw his mom hiding underneath their Ford F-150 in the driveway, but he didn't see his dad.

"I go on the left side of the truck and there was my dad, laying down," the son says.

Castro was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, where he is fighting for his life. His wife, meantime, was not injured.

HCSO Sgt. Ben Beall says the four suspects were able to get away in a white or cream-colored sedan. No arrests have been made.

The Sheriff's office says the couple may have been targeted because of their high-end Ford F-150, which was used to go to and from the restaurant.

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