Active investigation
Officials believe a local lawyer named Nathan Desai, 46, acted alone. The shooting started at about 6:30 a.m. at an upscale strip mall when the shooter began firing a .45 pistol at people walking in the mall area or who were in vehicles.
The mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, spoke to KTRK-TV from Cuba where he is on a trade mission, and said the gunman was “disgruntled” over issues connected to his work. “He was either fired or had a bad relationship with this law firm,” Turner said.
It was later learned the law firm he was a partner in closed six months ago due to a lack of clientele. He had been showing signs of stress lately and a neighbor said he recently brandished an “assault-style” weapon during a dispute with roofers. He was not arrested because he did not point the weapon at anyone.
Desai, multiple reports say, wore a military style uniform during the shooting; other reports called it a ‘Nazi uniform.‘ The entire ordeal lasted around 20 minutes and one witness said at least 50 shots were fired during that time.
Houston police marked the area off for hours to check a vehicle for explosives, a Porsche that belonged to Desai. Over 2,600 rounds of ammunition and a Tommy gun were found in the car, police said, along with Nazi material. A search of the dead man’s home turned up more weapons and Nazi material.
Texas mass shootings
Three of the injured were treated by EMS personnel at the scene and released, six were taken to hospital. One is listed as in critical condition, one in fair condition and four in good condition.
Witnesses said bullets whipped around the mall as people ran about and ducked for cover. Upon arriving on scene police were quickly able to ascertain where the gunman was and engage him and shoot him dead. There are no reports of police being wounded.
A non-profit organization called Gun Violence that tracks shootings in the U.S. wrote today that the incident in Houston is the 19th mass shooting this year — in Texas alone. A mass shooting is qualified as one in which four or more people are shot and either wounded or killed.
