Three people, including a mother and her young daughter, were wounded before officers confronted the armed man on North Wayside Drive.
HOUSTON, TX — Houston police officers and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper shot an armed man Friday after authorities said he opened fire on passing vehicles in northeast Houston, wounding three people before officers confronted him.
The shooting unfolded Aug. 14 in the 6300 block of North Wayside Drive near Ley Road. Police said they received multiple reports of a man firing at vehicles in the area. Officers who arrived found a man in his 30s armed with a rifle, according to Houston police and accounts from a police briefing. The man’s name had not been released Friday afternoon.
Police said three vehicles were struck by gunfire. A mother and her young daughter were wounded while traveling together in one vehicle, and another person was shot in a separate vehicle. No one was injured in the third vehicle that was hit. Houston police said the three wounded civilians were receiving medical care and were in stable condition.
The mother and daughter went to nearby Houston Fire Department Station 43 for help after they were shot, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said, according to ABC13. Authorities had not publicly released the names or ages of the three wounded people.
Police said officers ordered the armed man to put down his weapon after reaching the scene. He did not comply, authorities said. Three Houston police officers and one Texas Department of Public Safety trooper then fired at him. The man was struck multiple times and taken to a hospital. Police had not announced his condition by Friday afternoon.
A worker at a nearby restaurant told the Houston Chronicle that he saw the man firing at passing cars at about 10:30 a.m. The worker, David Davis, said employees tried to warn motorists away from the area before going back inside the restaurant as the armed man approached. The account provided additional detail about the scene but remained part of the developing investigation.
Police said the man at one point went toward a home on St. Louis Street near the shooting scene. Residents told investigators they believed the property was his residence, according to the Houston Chronicle. Authorities had not said what prompted the gunfire, whether the victims were specifically targeted or whether investigators had identified any connection between the man and the people who were shot.
The shooting brought a large law enforcement response to North Wayside Drive as investigators marked evidence and examined the area. Houston police initially described the incident as an officer-involved shooting involving an armed suspect who had been firing at vehicles. Officials said no officers were reported wounded during the confrontation.
The Houston Police Department, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Texas Rangers were expected to conduct reviews of the officers’ use of force. The broader investigation into the shootings remained underway Friday, and police had not announced a motive or released additional information about the hospitalized man.
Author note: Last updated August 14, 2026.