A gunman opened fire during a celebration of life, officials said.
A woman was killed and 13 people were injured when a drive-by shooting erupted at a candlelight vigil Sunday evening in a suburb of Houston, officials said.
An unidentified gunman opened fire on a crowd of about 50 people, including children, participating in a celebration of life for a recent homicide victim in Baytown, a community about 25 miles east of Houston, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a news conference near the scene of the shooting.
A Harris County sheriff’s sergeant told ABC station KTRK in Houston that a mother was holding a vigil for her son who was killed at his home a couple of weeks ago. Gonzalez said the shooting happened around 6:40 p.m.
“Right as they were releasing the balloons up in the air was when the vehicle came, and almost at that exact time is when they opened fire into the crowd, ” Gonzalez said.
On Monday morning, Gonzalez identified the woman killed in the shooting as Disha Allen, who he said was in her mid-20s.
He said three of the people wounded were in critical condition.
Sidney Williams, a witness who attended the vigil, told KTRK he heard 20 to 30 gunshots.
“People were screaming and running to their cars,” Williams said.
Witnesses said two of the victims who were shot were a pastor and his wife who were in attendance at the vigil, according to KTRK.
Gonzalez said many of the shooting victims were taken in private cars to an area hospital, where a fight broke out and required sheriff’s deputies to intervene.
The sheriff said no arrests have been made. He said the assailant or assailants were in a small, dark-colored sedan.
He said a motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
“Bullets don’t have eyes,” Gonzalez said, “so it puts everyone at risk.”
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
