Knife-wielding man shot while carjacking family outside Texas courthouse, prosecutors say
Isaiah Joshua Lee Houston, 26, of Colorado Springs, Colorado (Source: Lubbock County Jail) Background photo of Houston entering the black SUV after forcibly removing the adult female from the vehicle (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District
LUBBOCK, Texas - A Colorado man has been hit with federal charges after being accused of staging a daytime, knife-wielding carjacking of a mother and her newborn baby right outside a pair of downtown courthouses, federal authorities announced Monday.
Federal Carjacking Charges
Isaiah Joshua Lee Houston, 26, of Colorado Springs, was charged by a federal complaint less than eight hours after the Friday morning attack, which ended with Houston being shot in the leg by a security guard. He remains in federal custody and made his initial court appearance Monday. If convicted, Houston faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
Isaiah Joshua Lee Houston, 26, of Colorado Springs, Colorado (Source: Lubbock County Detention Center)
The backstory:
The incident unfolded May 29 next to the Lubbock County Courthouse and just north of the George H. Mahon Federal Building. According to court documents, Houston first targeted a box truck stopped at a red light at Buddy Holly Avenue and Broadway Street, but the driver managed to push him away from the vehicle.
Houston then ran toward a parked black SUV, pulled a knife from his pocket, forced open the driver's side door, and yanked out an adult woman who was holding her newborn infant.
An off-duty Lubbock police officer and a nearby security guard immediately confronted Houston as he climbed inside the SUV, prompting him to run around the county courthouse. Surveillance footage from the federal building captured the assault on the woman, while a bystander's cellphone video showed Houston trying to scramble into the back of a moving pickup truck as law enforcement gave chase.
The pursuing security guard, noting Houston was still armed with the knife, fired at him, striking him once in the leg. Houston was taken into custody, and investigators later recovered the knife along the path he ran.
What they're saying:
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas noted that the swift arrest and charging window came less than two weeks after local, state, and federal agencies launched "Operation Hub City Shield," a surge initiative targeting violent crime in the area.
"When violent criminals seek to target innocent members of the public, together we will swiftly find them, charge them, and use the full weight of federal and state laws to hold them accountable," Raybould said. "Mr. Houston should have been listening."
The case was handled jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the FBI, the Lubbock Police Department, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lubbock Texas Anti-Gang Center.
The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas and the Lubbock County Detention Center.