Authorities in Texas are searching for a gunman who opened fire early Sunday at a bar in suburban Houston, killing one person and injuring five others.
The shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. at Alas Locas Sports Bar in Cleveland, about 45 miles northeast of Houston, according to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
Security footage captured the incident, and investigators are reviewing the video in an effort to identify the suspect. Witnesses told police the gunman had been sitting alone at the bar, drinking quietly for about an hour before the attack, said Capt. David Myers.
The suspect allegedly left the building and returned to the outdoor patio, where he opened fire without warning using a .40 or .45-caliber handgun. Investigators recovered at least 20 shell casings from the scene. The shooter fled in a white full-size van with no side windows and remains at large. The motive is still unknown.
One victim, who had been at the bar with his wife, was critically wounded and airlifted to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where he later died. Five others—four men and one woman—were also shot, including two victims in critical condition.
This marks the second mass shooting at a Houston-area bar this year.
Back in March, six people were shot—four critically—at Latinas Sports Bar in southwest Houston. Police later arrested 25-year-old Venezuelan national Jose Miguel Briceno and charged him with aggravated assault in connection to that shooting. Briceno, who is reportedly an undocumented immigrant, is accused of firing a gun into the doorway of the bar before discarding the weapon. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
In June, Briceno was among 16 foreign nationals indicted on federal drug and weapons charges. Authorities allege he is linked to the Anti-Tren transnational criminal organization, and that the March shooting was part of a gang-related turf war with rival group TdA.
“This was the largest takedown of suspected Anti-Tren members by the FBI to date, and it happened right here in Houston,” said Douglas Williams, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston Field Office.