Police: Person of interest arrested in deadly Willowbrook Mall shooting

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police have arrested a relative of the two people who were shot Wednesday outside Willowbrook Mall in northwest Houston.

Dante Thomas was taken into custody Thursday night in northwest Harris County. He has not been charged in this case, but police say he is a person of interest.

The shooting happened around 7:30pm Wednesday in the parking lot of the Macy's store at the mall. Police say witnesses saw two women in the pickup truck in the parking lot. At some point, shots were fired; police are still trying to piece together the details leading up to the attack.

One woman died in the truck. Her adult daughter was transported to the hospital and is in critical but stable condition. Both victims were shot in the head.

Police have not released the identities of the women, but say Thomas is the nephew of the woman who was killed and the other victim is his cousin.

Thomas had posted a $50,000 bond, which is standard for a murder charge, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

He was charged on January 29 in connection to a to a recent murder on Antoine.

On Thursday morning, his bond was revoked and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Earlier Thursday his defense attorney, George Parnham, urged Thomas to turn himself in.

"It's important for him to surrender himself to avoid any conflict that might cause harm to himself or anyone who tries to apprehend him or the general public," Parnham told Eyewitness News.

After his arrest, Parnham declined to comment.

People in the mall area on Thursday said they were shocked and disturbed by what happened.

"I don't think anything could happen like that around here," shopper Michell Baronaske said.

Another mall shopper, Yul Brown, said, "It's very disappointing. It's a new year, we just got out of Christmas, I mean, it's just bad news to hear when things happen like that. It's never easy to lose a family member."

If you have any information in this case, you're asked to contact police.