Houston, Texas: Harris County Deputies Search for Teen, 17, After Father, 37, Is Shot Dead at Westbank Avenue Home

HOUSTON, Texas (Orbit Post) A 37-year-old man was shot dead inside his northwest Harris County home early Friday, and deputies are searching for his 17-year-old son, who investigators say shot his father during a fight and then left the house.

Harris County Constable Precinct 1 deputies were called at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, November 6, to a shooting at a home on Westbank Avenue, between Fairbanks North Houston Road and North Houston Rosslyn Road, Sergeant Jason Brown of the Harris County Sheriff's Office said, FOX 26 Houston reported. Deputies found the man dead inside the home with gunshot wounds.

A fight inside the family home

Investigators say the father and his son got into an altercation, and during the fight the teenager got hold of a pistol and shot his father. Sgt. Brown said disputes between the father and son were not uncommon, and he described the shooting as the end of an ongoing argument between the two. What set off the final argument is still unclear, and investigators say they are still piecing together the exact events that led to the gunfire.

The teenager left the home after the shooting. Deputies searched the immediate area and did not find him. KPRC 2 reported that deputies are searching for the 17-year-old, who is accused of shooting his father to death inside the home. ABC 13 reported that the father was killed during an argument with his teenage son and that the son is being sought for questioning.

Mother and siblings were inside

The boy's mother and two juvenile siblings were also inside the home when the shooting happened, deputies said. No one else was hurt. Authorities have not released the names of the father or the teenager.

Sgt. Brown said investigators hope to locate the teenager so they can hear his side of what happened. No decision has been made on whether criminal charges will be filed, FOX 26 reported.

What investigators have not said

Deputies have not said what the father and son were arguing about in the moments before the shooting, and they have not described how the teenager got the pistol or where it came from. They also have not said whether anyone else saw the shooting itself. The mother and the two siblings were in the home, and investigators are working through their accounts along with the physical evidence from the house on Westbank Avenue.

The case remains open on Friday morning, with the search for the teenager still under way in the neighborhoods around Fairbanks North Houston Road and North Houston Rosslyn Road. Until deputies find him and finish their interviews, the sheriff's office says the sequence of events inside the home rests on the accounts of the people who were there and on what the deputies found when they arrived at about 1:30 a.m.