17-year-old was shot in the heart but still pulled car over, dad says during HPD update

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The family of a 17-year-old shot and killed in what Houston police are calling a road rage attack are asking the public for help identifying her killer.

Louise Wilson was driving from her family's home in Whitney, Texas, to Galveston on Sunday to watch the sunrise with a friend and her boyfriend.

Houston police said she swerved to avoid an accident on the Pierce Elevated section of I-45 downtown at about 1 a.m. In doing so, she cut off another vehicle.

"She did nothing wrong," Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said.

The driver she cut off then opened fire. Louise was fatally shot several times. A 17-year-old passenger was shot once and survived.

Houston police believe Louise likely saved his life, and others, by driving her vehicle to safety even after she had been shot through the heart.

"She wanted to help people, and she helped them, and we'll always remember that of her," Louise's father, Daniel Wilson, sobbed.

He told ABC13 that Louise wanted to become a law enforcement officer. She loved rodeo and animals, especially her horse CJ. He said she had recently rescued a stray dog and hoped to one day work with police K-9s.

"She never got the chance," Louise's mother, Krista Wilson, said.

Louise was homeschooled. Her parents said she graduated high school in just three years while taking community college courses. She had been working at a restaurant in Whitney, preparing to attend the academy.

"Think about that, of what you took from this world and what she could have done. Lay that on your conscience, whoever did this," Daniel Wilson said.

At a Wednesday press conference, police said they had little information on the man who shot Louise and her friend.

"The suspect vehicle is described as a clean, newer model, four-door sedan. And, unfortunately, that's where we're at at the moment," Detective Calab Bowling said.

Asst. Chief Larry Satterwhite told ABC13 that he and Finner are looking to revive safe roadways, a multi-agency initiative cracking down on behaviors such as road rage, after Louise's death, but have no concrete plans. Satterwhite said the initiative was created in 2021, shortly after a 17-year-old was shot to death in a road rage incident after an Astros game.

In February 2023, Mayor Sylvester Turner said that he and Finner were pushing for TranStar cameras to record. The cameras are used to monitor roadways in real-time for incidents like collisions. On Wednesday, Finner and Satterwhite told ABC13 they had hit some roadblocks but declined to elaborate.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.