Police said a family stabbing call escalated into a barricade, fire and two fatal shootings at an apartment on North Shepherd Drive.
HOUSTON, TX — A 59-year-old father and his 20-year-old son were found dead inside a north Houston apartment after a reported stabbing between brothers led to a barricade, gunfire and a fire, Houston police said.
Houston Police Department officers responded about 4:20 p.m. Sept. 11 to a stabbing call at 4411 North Shepherd Drive. Officers found a man suffering from stab wounds, and Houston Fire Department paramedics took him to an area hospital. Police said they were told the man’s brother had stabbed him and then gone into an apartment, where he remained barricaded as officers tried to make contact.
Police said the Harris County District Attorney’s Office was contacted and officers obtained an arrest warrant for aggravated assault against a family member. The Houston Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team was called to assist with the barricade as officers continued working outside the apartment.
As SWAT officers were arriving, police said officers heard a gunshot from inside the apartment and saw flames coming from the unit. Authorities then heard a second gunshot toward the rear of the apartment. Firefighters extinguished the blaze before SWAT officers entered, according to police.
Inside, officers found two unresponsive men with gunshot wounds. Police identified them by age as the 59-year-old father and his 20-year-old son. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. HPD said the younger man’s wound appeared to have been self-inflicted, and the department is investigating the father’s death as a fatal shooting and the son’s death as an apparent suicide.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences had not publicly verified the identities of the two men as of Monday, according to HPD. Police also had not released a final determination on the circumstances of the father’s shooting. The medical examiner’s office is responsible for formally establishing identity and cause and manner of death.
ABC13 reported that the injured man was 22 and was expected to survive. The station, citing police, reported that the two brothers and their father lived together in the apartment and that their mother was not there when the incident occurred. ABC13 also reported that two other apartments were damaged during the fire.
The case remains under investigation by the Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division Special Investigations Unit. Police have not announced additional arrests, and the department said the identities of the two people who died were still pending verification.
Author note: Last updated September 15, 2026.