Several teens involved in violent weekend in Houston area leading up to holiday break

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's been a violent few days in the Houston area, and much of it involves the city's young people.

According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, teen gun violence is rising nationwide.

It went up about 12% from 2021 to 2022.

"We had a bad weekend. This weekend, with some juveniles being involved in gunplay and so forth," Lt. Robert Schields Jr., with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said. "Those guns are, majority of times, coming up either stolen or maybe they're sneaking their parents' guns."

On Dec. 15 at 2 a.m., three teenagers, 14, 15, and 16 years old, were all shot in a drive-by in northeast Harris County.

Police believe the driver was just 14 years old, and there were three other teens in the car with him.

That evening, a 15-year-old and an adult were both shot in a drive-by in the northwest part of the county.

The next morning, Dec. 16, a 14-year-old was shot in a robbery in northwest Houston.

"Let's face it, we know the truth. You know when your kid is hanging out with other troubled kids," Schields said. "It shows the lack of care and the response that the juveniles are giving to authority is going down."

On Dec. 17, a man was shot and killed at his grandson's birthday party.

"I saw everything right in front of my face when the bullet hit him," Michael Sanchez said. "I saw everything... the way he froze. He told me when it happened, 'Look what happened: I got shot.'"

Sanchez told ABC13 the celebration was for his 18th birthday.

"If it wasn't for him, none of this party, nothing would happen, but they want to take away my grandpa's life on my birthday," Sanchez said.

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