Chaos at downtown Houston nightclub leaves several shot, at least one hit by car

Houston Police officers investigate the scene where a vehicle with three occupants drove into a crowd outside the Spire Night Club, striking at least one person, on the intersection of Travis and Jefferson streets Thursday, Aug., 3, 2017, in Houston. The three men inside the vehicle were then shot at as they were trying to leave the scene, according to police. less Houston Police officers investigate the scene where a vehicle with three occupants drove into a crowd outside the Spire Night Club, striking at least one person, on the intersection of Travis and Jefferson ... more Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Chaos at downtown Houston nightclub leaves several shot, at least one hit by car 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

An early-morning melee outside a downtown Houston club on Thursday left at least two people with gunshot wounds, at least one person injured by a car and one person assaulted.

"It's a real confusing scene at this point," HPD Lt. Larry Crowson said shortly after the 2:30 a.m. incident. "We're not exactly sure who's the victim and who's the suspect in this."

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Crowson said this is what police think happened at Spire, a nightclub on Main at Jefferson that hosted mega-rapper Drake just last week in its building, which property records show was a church until last year.

Chaos broke out in the nightclub's parking lot after closing time. There was a fight. A car with three people drove into the crowd, apparently on purpose, and hit at least one person. The impact was hard enough to smash the car's windshield.

At least one person in the crowd then pulled out a gun and shot at the fleeing car, hitting it several times. At least one of the occupants was shot, in the leg.

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The car's driver backed up, hit a utility pole and started driving north on Travis - directly toward the Houston Police Department headquarters five blocks away at 1200 Travis.

An HPD sergeant patrolling in the area was driving toward the sound of gunfire and saw the shot-up vehicle, which he stopped. When he found the occupant with a gunshot wound, he returned to his police vehicle to call for an ambulance.

That's when the three men took off running - including the one with a gunshot wound to his leg.

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Officers searched for those three men from the car. According to an HPD news release later Thursday, two of those men were found nearby, in the 900 block of Bell, and taken to hospitals to be treated for gunshot wounds. The third car occupant remained at large as of 11 a.m. Thursday.

Police also found a different man who was the victim of an assault; he was taken to Ben Taub Hospital in stable condition.

Then police encountered a man in the same area who had suffered a gunshot wound to the face, possibly to his eye. He was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in serious but stable condition, and he is expected to survive.

Police weren't immediately sure whether the two wounded men were connected to the nightclub incident.

Investigators faced a difficult task reconstructing what happened because everyone involved - witnesses, victims and perpetrators - fled the scene.

A camera at a nearby intersection might yield useful footage.

The 12,000-square-foot club is owned by the group behind Clé, Saint Dane's, Christian's Tailgate, and other nightlife projects, the Chronicle previously reported.

The nightlife group bought the building despite a historic preservation campaign that drew a letter from then-Mayor Annise Parker asking the congregation of First Church of Christ, Scientist to consider selling their historic building to the Houston chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which had said it would move its headquarters there, according to the local real estate blog Swamplot.

When the new owners first sought an alcohol license in early 2016, they described the business as "1720 Main Reception Hall," Swamplot reported.

The Spire nightclub did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The phone number listed on its Facebook page was disconnected.

No charges were filed as of 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the HPD news release. Police ask anyone with information about the incident to call the department's Major Assaults Unit at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).