Houston crime: Teen accused of randomly shooting students with pellet gun

HOUSTON - A 17-year-old was arrested on Thursday in northwest Harris County after being accused of randomly shooting students with a pellet gun as they walked home from school.

Four students in total were shot while walking home from nearby Hopper Middle School and Cypress Springs High School. The shootings took place on May 4, 5, and 8.

"You would think your child is safe walking home, but apparently not," said Pierre Ladd.

Ladd’s 12-year-old son was one of the students shot while walking home from school last Friday.

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"It stung," said Courtney Brady. "My friend told me it was a gun.  So he started running, so I started running."

"We got back to the scene and there was a young girl that got grazed in the head," said Ladd.

On Twitter, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez called the offender "a menace to kids walking home from school."

On May 4, a 17-year-old girl was shot. A 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were shot on May 5. Then on May 8, a 16-year-old girl was shot by the teen using a pellet gun.

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"I remember her saying that she heard something fly through the air, and she just got hit," said Miguel Mendez, a student who witnessed one of the shootings. "Her friends helped her run away."

Jordan Constantine Balderas, a 17-year-old, was arrested Thursday and charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of injuring a child. Balderas turns 18 years old in less than two weeks.

According to court documents, a $4 million bond total has been set for Balderas.

"I’m thankful they caught him and everybody is safe," said Ladd.