Police investigating fatal shooting in southwest Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- What began as a 911 call Saturday to report a man was sick and needed an ambulance has grown into a homicide investigation.

The man said to be ill was dead, and not by natural causes. He had been shot several times, and detectives say it was not suicide.

There's an additional element of mystery as well. The woman who called 911 from the apartment on Gessner and Jason Street near the Southwest Freeway is said to have left after paramedics arrived. She stayed long enough to allow first responders into the apartment, and vanished before police arrived.

Investigators say the man appears to have been in his 30s. It's not known if the woman lived at the apartment. The emergency call was made at 2:30pm Saturday afternoon.

Police obtained a search warrant Saturday evening to go into what's not considered a crime scene to collect evidence.

Neither the man nor the woman have been publicly identified. She is not being called a suspect, but is considered a person of interest.

The gun believed to have been used to shoot the victim was also found in the apartment. He's said to have been shot at least two times.