Suspects still on the run 1 day after grandmother shot and killed outside SE Houston gym
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Police are still searching for two suspects that shot and killed a grandmother walking into her southeast Houston gym Thursday.
62-year-old Elsa Mikeska was arriving for a 5 a.m. exercise class when she was ambushed in the parking lot in an attempted robbery.
A makeshift memorial has been created right next to the spot where she died outside Life Fit Personal Fitness Studio, located in the 10500 block of Fuqua Street near Beamer Road.
A group of close friends stopped at the memorial to pray.
"Deep love and respect and appreciation for our friendships and how much she added to our lives. Like I said, she never had a bad word for anybody and she was always, always the one to help fix things and always the one to help keep everything together," said Kathy Comerford, Mikeska's close friend.
Comerford considers Mikeska a sister.
"Praying (for) giving her family strength, asking God for help, asking God to find these people," said Comerford.
Late Thursday, Houston police released surveillance video of the suspects' vehicle.
The suspects' white Chevrolet SUV parked near the victim just before 5 a.m. Thursday, and two people got out. Officers say the suspects confronted the woman and she took off running toward the gym before they opened fire, killing her.
The suspects took off, and are still on the run Friday morning.
They're described only as Hispanic males in their early 20s.
ABC13 spoke to her family Thursday. They're heartbroken and wondering who would do this.
ORIGINAL STORY: Woman shot and killed while trying to flee carjackers outside SE Houston gym, police say
Mikeska was a member of the gym and fellow gym members described her as a regular.
"It's kind of scary, just the fact that it happened to a 50-to-60-year-old lady," gym member Frank Delgado said. "They have no compassion towards age. Crime has no compassion towards age."
"It's very troubling," HPD Commander Belinda Null said. "On a daily basis, it's troubling that our city, and cities across the nation, are experiencing the violence that we are."
The gym shooting wasn't the only incident police believe the suspects are connected to.
An hour before, officers say the suspects attempted to carjack a vehicle from a woman at 10100 Freehill Street, about two miles from the gym. The car was broken down, so they weren't able to steal it. The victim ran, and no shots were fired.
Officers said they aren't sure why the suspects opened fire when the victim ran toward the gym.
If you have any information, or recognize the vehicle, you can call CrimeStoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
