Neighbor describes shots, screams from officer-involved shooting that left 2 dead in Port Neches
Published 11:12 am Thursday, October 6, 2022
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PORT NECHES — When gunshots rang out at Lloyd’s RVC Park, a mother called 9-1-1 while getting her children and herself to safety.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she heard the first gunshot Wednesday night then a scream from her neighbor’s trailer. She then heard another gunshot along with what she described as a blood-curdling scream before all went quiet.
At the time, she was unaware three people had been shot — one by a Port Neches Police Department officer.
And once the gunfire ceased, a woman was dead, a man was injured and the alleged shooter was dead after being shot by a responding officer.
According to information from the Port Neches Police Department, the woman’s call came in at 8:07 p.m. The first officer to respond reported seeing a 53-year-old man with a gunshot wound lying in the grass. As the officer approached the victim to render aid, a 56-year-old man exited a trailer and fired one round at the officer, police said.
At that point, the responding officer took cover and awaited backup.
With use of a ballistic shield, officials were able to reach the victim. While returning to a safe position, PNPD said, the suspect emerged and pointed a gun at the first responders.
One of the officers who arrived to assist fatally shot the man.
When officers approached the man to render aid, PNPD said, they found a 29-year-old woman dead by gunshot inside the trailer. A 13-year-old girl was also in the residence, but not said to be injured.
As the neighbor recalled the event, she said prior to the shooting the female victim had pulled up in her vehicle with the alleged shooter pulling up shortly behind her. The two exchanged words before the suspect entered the mobile home.
The man who was injured has lived at the trailer for 15-20 years, the neighbor said. He is reportedly the father of the woman who was shot and killed.
The RV park is normally quiet with the exception of an occasional drug related crime, the neighbor said.
The scene Thursday morning was vastly different from about 12 hours earlier. Few people were outside in the daylight.
But on the previous night at 10:30 p.m. there were two Port Neches Fire Department trucks lighting the area and numerous police and other related vehicles. Port Neches Police Chief Paul Lemoine described the altercation as domestic in nature.
Lemoine also said the Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers are investigating the officer-involved shooting, and the Port Neches Police Department is investigating the fatal shooting of the woman and shooting of the man.
The officer who fired the fatal shot has been put on paid administrative leave during the investigation, PNPD said Thursday morning.
Autopsies will be handled through the office of Justice of the Peace Marc DeRouen.
This is the second officer-involved shooting this year for the Port Neches Police Department after a 30-plus year stretch without any such incident.
In July, two PNPD officers shot and killed a man who allegedly rammed a stolen vehicle into a police unit before fleeing on foot with a gun. Preliminary autopsy findings showed the deceased suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The officers involved were “no billed” by a Jefferson County grand jury, meaning the panel of nine by majority found no crime had been committed by the officers. Both returned to duty.