Boy, 6, killed by stray bullet in southwest Harris County

HOUSTON -- A six-year-old boy was killed Thursday night after a bullet shot from an adjacent apartment in southwest Harris County struck him in the face, Harris County deputies said.

It happened just before 6:45pm in the 6300 block of Sierra Blanca.

"When deputies arrived, they encountered a mother who said her six-year-old son had been shot one time," said Deputy Thomas Gilliland with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Gilliland says the bullet was shot from an adjacent apartment and hit him in the face as he was walking into a room.

The boy was transported to the hospital via LifeFlight, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

"We have five people detained that were in an adjacent apartment," Gilliland said. "We are trying to determine at this time where they were in this apartment, why there was a gun in play and why it went off."

Gilliland says three of the the people detained are juveniles.

As the investigation continues, neighbors are still trying to process what happened.

"Imagine that, I just put my kid to bed and I just keep holding him and kissing him and tell him I love him so much. It could've been mine," a neighbor said.

Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this developing story.