Woman pistol-whipped during attempted carjacking struggle in Third Ward, HPD says
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston police are searching for a suspect after a woman said she was pistol-whipped and shot during an attempted carjacking in Third Ward overnight.
The incident happened on Live Oak Street just after 2:30 a.m. Officials said the woman told Houston Police Department officers that she was coming to visit her boyfriend at his mother's home when the suspect approached and demanded her vehicle.
"I was really just in disbelief," The boyfriend's mother, who didn't want to be identified fearing for her safety, told ABC13.
Officers said that there was a struggle, leading to the woman being pistol-whipped in the back of her hand and then shot in her left shoulder.
"She tried to mace him, but it didn't work, and when she tried to mace him, he shot her," the boyfriend's mother said.
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The woman then ran to her boyfriend's home, and the suspect took off on foot, HPD said.
"She tried to keep herself calm, but what do you expect with her being shot? She was in tears," the boyfriend's mother said.
In 2024, after a string of violent crimes in the Third Ward, Houston police announced they would step up patrols.
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Eyewitness News looked at historical crime data within a half-mile radius of last night's carjacking and found that in the two years prior to 2024, there were around 30 aggravated assaults each year between Jan. 1 and mid-August.
In 2024, when patrols began, and in the years after, crime data for the same period each year has remained much the same.
Officers later searched for the suspect but did not find him.
The woman was taken to the hospital for her injuries and is expected to be OK.
Police said they are reviewing camera footage to see what happened and are asking witnesses to step forward.
Anyone with information is urged to call HPD's Major Assaults Division.
