Houston police said it started as a carjacking in the 5100 block of Pinemont shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
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About an hour later, officers in the area spotted the stolen Honda CRV and tried to stop the driver, but he did not pull over, according to police.
While officers were pursuing the suspect, he ran through a red light and clipped the back end of a box truck at the intersection of W. Little York and Antoine Drive, causing the truck to roll on its side and knock down a pole.
"I saw the police, one of them jumped on top of the truck right there and pulled that guy out of that truck," Anthony Crump, who was nearby when it happened, said. "As he was proceeding to do that, I saw the guy in a gray car jump out of this SUV truck."
Surveillance video at a convenience store on the corner shows the suspect escaping the crashed stolen car, running behind the store, and through their service bay.
"It was pretty crazy to me because I'm used to seeing something like that on TV, the news, First 48," Crump said.
From there, the suspect ran onto Harmony School of Endeavor's property and inside one of the buildings on campus.
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Harmony went into secure mode, and officials said the suspect was only on campus for about 10 minutes before he was detained by police. He never gained access to a classroom with students inside.
"Any time there is a school, the safety of the children is so important," HPD Commander Luis Menendez said at the scene. "Especially with things that have been occurring recently. I was at the station. I know everyone at the station jumped up out of our seats and were running over here."
Police on scene said they believed the suspect gained entry to the school as someone else was either entering or leaving the building.
SkyEye video shows about half a dozen kids being escorted away from the Harmony School campus by officers with long guns.
The students were walked away from the school and escorted into a business across the street.
Jatoria Washington, whose 6-year-old daughter Skyler goes to the school, said she got an email with few details and immediately headed toward the school.
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"I was on the tollway," Washington said. "I don't even have a tag because the email didn't explain anything. It just said come pick them up somewhere other than the school, so of course, that alerted me."
Harmony Public Schools issued the following statement:
"At approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 13, 2023, an intruder who was being chased by police entered the campus of Harmony School of Endeavor-Houston. The campus immediately enacted a Secure status, during which time all students and staff participating in summer school were instructed to remain in their current rooms with the doors secured. Within about 10 minutes, the individual was detained by Houston Police. All of our students and staff are safe and accounted for. At no time did the individual gain access to a classroom with a student. Students are currently being picked up by parents at a location near the campus to allow law enforcement to continue their investigation. We wish to thank our partners in local law enforcement for their quick and professional response, as well as our students and staff for their prompt action during this matter."
The suspect in the incident has not been identified. Police said he was taken to the hospital with minor injuries from the crash.
As a result of what happened, an HPD unit that stopped on W. Little York outside of the school was struck by another driver. There was also another crash near where the box truck flipped. No injuries were reported there.
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