Police: Employee possible suspect in SW Houston barber shop shooting

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We've learned Houston police have identified a possible suspect in a shooting at a southwest Houston barber shop last week.

The victim survived, but his mom tells Eyewitness News he's got a long road to recovery. She contacted us to set the record straight about the shooting that nearly ended her oldest son's life.

"He was there practically every day that the business opened, and all of a sudden a random guy just comes in shooting and his target was Kengrick?" questions Sharon Boutte.

Her son Kengrick McConico was shot inside Finesse Hair Studio Friday. According to police at the scene, witnesses said a man walked in, shot him multiple times and then ran out. The suspect then carjacked someone in the parking lot, leaving this rifle behind. Police told us then that they weren't ruling out the possibility that it was gang-related.

"They said gang-related, and I'm like 'nah...what is going on?'" McConico said.

Boutte tells us a family friend was in the shop and told her the story given to police was not totally true.

"It wasn't gang-related. It wasn't no beefing. It wasn't none of that. I just say senseless."

Investigators confirm they have a possible suspect and that he was employed as a barber at the shop. He hasn't been charged yet, so we're not identifying him. But we're told he is in custody for an unrelated crime.

"It's kind of mind-boggling," says Finesse Hair Studio owner Jay Brown. "At the end of the day, I've heard rumors. I don't know exactly what happened. I wasn't in here when it happened. That sounds kind of outlandish. I pray it's not true."

Brown says despite this shooting, his shop is as safe as it ever was. And he's doing his part to keep it that way.

"I'm going to do my best to do a better job screening my staff members, doing thorough background checks on my barbers as well as my stylists," he said.

Police say they don't know the motive at this point in the investigation. Still, Sharon Boutte had this to say: "I just want us as people to put more value on life. It's nothing that a person can do to you with words that would make you shoot them in the manner that Kendrick was shot."

HPD hopes to have charges on the shooter in the next day or two.