A Houston man shot by an off-duty highway patrolman, who considered his neighbor to be an intruder, might’ve been mistakenly seeking “access to the wrong apartment,” building owners said Tuesday.
The near-deadly incident unfolded early Monday morning as the off-duty law enforcement agent fired one shot through a closed door at an upscale apartment building near the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park, authorities said.
The highway patrolman and the man shot are both residents of the apartment building on Crawford Street, police have said.
“The Houston Police Department investigation is still ongoing, but at this point we believe the incident to be a case of one resident mistaking another resident’s apartment as their own,” the building’s owner, the Finger Companies, said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.
“While the first resident attempted to gain access to the wrong apartment, the other resident — who we are told is a member of local law enforcement — fired through the door striking the resident in the shoulder.”
A Houston Police Department spokesperson declined comment about the company’s statement on Tuesday, saying the probe into Monday’s gunfire was ongoing.
A Finger Companies representative did not immediately elaborate on how owners have come to believe the wounded man was a victim of being at the wrong door.
The 35-year-old man, who was shot in the right shoulder, is expected to survive, officials said. The shooter and neighbor have not been identified by local or state authorities.
Monday’s shooting bears some similarity to the Sept. 6, 2018, slaying of 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean in Dallas.
Jean was in his own apartment when Dallas police officer Amber Guyger mistakenly entered his unit, believed he was an intruder and gunned him down.
Guyger was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Carla Kakouris-Solarana contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
