Pregnant woman shot when liquor store robbery leads to gunfight in northwest Houston, HPD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A pregnant woman is in the hospital after being shot three times when gunfire was exchanged at a liquor store in northwest Houston Wednesday night, according to police.

The shooting happened at Triple Crown Liquor in the 5700 block of Bingle Road near West Tidwell Road just before 8 p.m.

According to Houston police, two masked men, with firearms in hand, got out of a vehicle and approached the liquor store. Police said the store clerk saw the suspects on the store's live feed and took out his own gun in self-defense.

At some point, gunfire was exchanged, and the woman, who is two months pregnant, was shot three times. The woman was taken to the hospital, where she is stable.

Police are still working to determine if the woman was an innocent bystander or if she was involved in the shooting. It's unclear who fired the shots that ended up hitting her.

"At this point, it's very hard to tell. We don't know her involvement other than that she was shot three times," Sgt. David Solis said. "That is something we are going to follow up, if she was a customer, if she was involved --we have no idea. We have not been able to establish that right now."

Police said the store had been the target of previous robberies, which is why the clerk was worried and took out his own gun.

Authorities are still working on talking to witnesses and learning more about the wounded woman and the suspects. The store clerk was interviewed by investigators overnight.

Police did not have a good description of the masked suspects to share.

Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact HPD at 713-308-8800.