It is a club without any sign, but it attracted a crowd Thursday night. Police believe there were two shootouts in a matter of minutes. Bullet casings, each one with an evidence marker, littered the strip center parking lot from one end to another.
"A boy comes out from where the gunshots are coming and I go the opposite direction," said witness Tamica Thompson. "And they're shooting at me."
She wasn't injured. Someone else was. A passenger in an SUV was shot. A truck with bullet holes and broken glass was driven to neighboring Memorial Hermann Hospital, where the man, described to be in his 30s, later died.
"This stems from an earlier argument we think as of right now," said Detective Ryan Chandler with the Houston Police Department. "There was an earlier argument and our victim in this case, we think, was a bystander."
Hours after the smoke cleared, business owners arrived to start their day and saw police cars still in the parking lot.
Also behind the crime scene tape was a rented SUV from Louisiana. It, too, had bullet holes and broken glass; collateral damage from the shooting. Looking at the aftermath was a man who says his brother-in-law was there last night.
"Most of them don't have families. Most of them don't have good jobs, so they feel the only place they can take their frustrations out is the clubs," said the man, who didn't give us his name.
Kenneth Dortch lives and works nearby. Here's his take on the death and the damage.
"Rules of living on the street and one of them didn't follow it," he said. "Like I say, it is what it is."
Police are now trying to piece together details to perhaps identify a suspect. The name of the victim has not yet been released.
