Houston, Texas: Homeowner in His 80s Shoots Intruder Dead Inside Spring Area Home on Misty Hollow Drive

A homeowner in his 80s shot and killed an unknown man inside his home in the Spring area of north Harris County on Tuesday morning, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said. The man who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene, in the 15700 block of Misty Hollow Drive, near Stuebner Airline and Cypresswood Drive.

What deputies say happened

The shooting happened sometime after 8 a.m. on Tuesday, November 3, KHOU reported. The sheriff's office said the homeowner arrived at his residence and was confronted by an unknown male. Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables were sent to the home on a report of a firearm discharge and found the homeowner outside. He told deputies he had shot someone inside his home.

Sergeant Sidney Miller of the sheriff's office homicide unit briefed reporters at the scene. Investigators say the homeowner told them he fired his weapon to stop the man from stealing his property. Neither the sheriff's office nor KHOU named either man, and officials have not said how the man got inside the house or what the confrontation inside involved.

FOX 26 Houston, in its first report from the neighborhood, said deputies with Constable Mark Herman's Office were called to Misty Hollow Drive after reports of gunfire involving a possible intruder, and that a resident confronted a possible intruder on his property before the shooting.

The homeowner was not hurt

The homeowner was not physically injured. Deputies took him to a local hospital as a precaution, and he is expected to be fine, the sheriff's office said. No other injuries were reported in the accounts published on Tuesday.

What happens next

Miller said investigators are canvassing the neighborhood for surveillance video, speaking with witnesses, and plan to interview the homeowner and take a formal statement. Once the investigation is complete, the case goes to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether any charges are appropriate. No charging decision has been announced.

The dead man has not been identified in any official account published so far. His name, and any name for the homeowner, will only enter this story when officials release it and local outlets carry it.