Man fatally shot in NE Houston as he's leaving for work

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police are searching for at least two men who shot and killed another man in front of his northeast Houston home around 5:30am.

It happened near Pannell at Campbell. Investigators say the motive was robbery.

Police have not released the victim's name, describing him only as a Hispanic male in his 60s.

Laura Lee lives down the street. She says the shooting was senseless.

"He and his friend were waiting in their front yard to get picked up for work," Lee told Eyewitness News. "He was a good man. He helped the homeless. He'd help anybody. He was just trying to go to his construction job."

Homicide detectives say two African-American men in their late teens approached the victim with a gun and demanded cash.

"There was a struggle that ensued. One shot was fired that hit the victim. He died here. His friend was not hit and the victims fled in a gray or silver-colored car," said HPD Homicide Detective Phil Waters.

Police also say this is not the first armed robbery ending in murder in recent weeks. Police describe three young African-American men in their late teens or early 20's, driving a similar suspect vehicle, are responsible for a string of early morning armed robberies in the 5th Ward.

"Our robbery detectives tell us there is a crew running around this area. Same suspect description as today. And anytime you have people who make a conscious decision to go out with a loaded pistol and decided to hijack people, there's going to be violence and someone's going to get hurt," EXPLAINED Detective Waters. He added, "We don't know how much money was stolen from the victim. But there's no amount of money to account for the loss of human life. These people are self-absorbed evil people."

By noon, police still did not have many leads beyond a vague suspect and vehicle description. Meanwhile a dozen or so neighbors gathered in front of the victim's home. Some of them wept. A plastic backboard, stained with blood, leaned against a utility pole in the front yard.

"He loved to dance. He was a decent man. This violence is terrifying," Ms. Lee said as she stared at the backboard.