'Put the guns up:' Man killed trying to stop suspects who were targeting his neighbor, police say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Several men were hunting down a man to shoot at an apartment complex in southeast Houston but police said they ended up killing a different person.

The men were walking around with pistols and a rifle at about 9 p.m. Thursday in the 9200 block of Nathaniel near Clearwood, according to police.

The same group of men is allegedly responsible for a second shooting Thursday evening.

When police got to the scene, they said there was a man in his 20s who had been shot several times. He died at the apartment complex.

Police said the group of men, some of them wearing masks, showed up at the apartment and were there for about 30 minutes.

The men went to the apartment to shoot a man but, according to HPD, they ended up shooting another man who lived across from who they were targeting. The shooting victim tried to intervene and get them to put the guns away.

"From what we are being told, he walked over there, actually got in between gunmen and their intended target and some other folks that were there," said Lt. Willkens. "He was telling them, from what I understand, some of our witnesses were telling us he said, 'If y'all want to fight, fight, but put the guns up.' Evidently they didn't. They started shooting, and he's the one that took the blunt of all of the rounds."

Police are still working to find the suspects and are speaking with several witnesses about what happened.

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