Turner: 'There is a noticeable rise in teen violence'

HOUSTON - Crime trends were discussed by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on Monday. 

"When we lose a Houstonian, it’s an affront on all Houstonians," said Acevedo.
So far, for the city in 2021, there has been 44 homicides and many of them are still unsolved. There have also been 116 non-fatal shootings.

Many of the shootings over the weekend involving teens, a point concern for the chief and the mayor, as they started a news conference addressing the rise in crime.

"There is a noticeable rise in teen violence," said Turner. "Fortunately, none of the murders this weekend involved teens. But there were seven other non-fatal shootings this weekend and three of them involve teenage victims."

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Turner mentioned crime can happen anywhere and to anyone.

FOX 26 spoke with a concerned mother who says her two children and their friends were shot at in a suburb of Houston.

"We live here because we like our community, for this to happen, it’s just unfathomable and surreal," the mother said.

The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is also investigating a shooting in Missouri City, where a group of five teens on a golf cart were shot at multiple times around 8 p.m. over the weekend.

"I can't imagine why anyone would shoot at five children," the mother told us. "It’s hard to believe and two blocks from our house."

The mother said the kids were making a U-turn at Tiny Trail and Sienna Ranch Road when they say a black Mercedes SUV came to a screeching stop. From there the teens ran.

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The mother says the shooting was random, no words were exchanged between the two.

"I'm just really grateful that no one was hurt."

A detective with the sheriff’s office was assigned to the case Monday.