Uncle shot, killed in front of nephew in northeast Houston

A man is injured after gunfire Tuesday evening in northeast Houston. (Metro Video) A man is injured after gunfire Tuesday evening in northeast Houston. (Metro Video) Photo: Metro Video Photo: Metro Video Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Uncle shot, killed in front of nephew in northeast Houston 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A man is dead after shots were fired Tuesday evening in northeast Houston, during which his 6-year-old nephew narrowly avoided being hit by the gunfire.

Officers with the Houston Police Department were called about 7 p.m. to Swan River, near Moss Oaks, said D. Crowder, a detective with the Houston Police Department's homicide division.

Once they arrived, officers found the man - identified by police as 35-year-old Cornelius Williams - and his nephew inside of a car that had crashed into a fire hydrant and was spewing water.

Williams had been shot at least once. The nephew was uninjured, Crowder said.

Williams had been shot a few blocks away, in the 6100 block of Moss Oaks, then tried to drive himself away from his shooter, according to HPD.

Police did not immediately have a description of the shooter or a car the shooter was in.

Williams was taken to Lyndon Baines Johnson General Hospital where he died, according to HPD.

The boy was taken to a hospital as well, as a precautionary measure, Crowder said.