HPD investigating shooting of pregnant woman in east Houston

Houston police are investigating a shooting in east Houston on Thursday night that injured a pregnant woman. Houston police are investigating a shooting in east Houston on Thursday night that injured a pregnant woman. Photo: Metro Video Photo: Metro Video Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close HPD investigating shooting of pregnant woman in east Houston 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Police are investigating a shooting in east Houston on Thursday night that injured a pregnant woman.

Houston police officers were called to an apartment complex in the 900 block of Villa De Matel Road around 9:45 p.m., moments after the woman was shot.

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Paramedics and the first-responding officers scoured the complex to find the woman, who was eventually discovered in her apartment with a gunshot wound to her leg.

Medics rushed the woman to an area hospital as officers began to investigate.

Officers later told reporters that the woman was standing in the courtyard with a man when they saw a masked robber pointing a weapon, possibly an assault rifle, at them. The man and woman went back into an apartment, but the alleged robber fired several rounds at the door, causing one to break through and hit the woman in the leg, Metro Video reported.

Eva Celedon and Angel Guzman were outside their apartment home grilling dinner when the shot rang out.

"We were here and it was all quiet," Celedon said. "Then boom. We walked over there, and we didn't see anything. There was nothing there."

It wasn't until the medics pushed a stretcher into the apartment courtyard that they learned their neighbor had been shot.

Guzman said their complex is known to have gunfire erupt, mostly from young kids shooting bullets into the air.

"(Gunfire has) happened before, so I thought 'man, it's probably those kids again,' Guzman said.

An hour after the woman was shot, officers were still searching for a bullet casing in a nearby grassy area nearby.

The woman was taken to the hospital in an unknown condition. Officers did not have anyone in custody as of 11 p.m.

The circumstances of the shooting were not immediately clear.

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Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com