Two men were killed and another was critically wounded when a suspect entered a Clear Lake apartment and opened fire around 3:30 a.m. Sunday

The wounded man, 22, ran to a nearby apartment complex, where the police were called.

Police could not confirm a report that the men were playing video games when they were shot, Houston Police Department spokesman John Cannon said.

"It's still unknown," Cannon said, adding that there were no witnesses to explain the incident.

The two who died suffered multiple gunshot wounds, possibly inflicted by more than one gunman, who appeared to have entered the apartment without using force, Cannon said.

The injured man, a cousin of one of the deceased, was in critical condition, Cannon said.

1 victim identified

Police provided few details about the victims' identities, but a grieving relative identified one man as Jesus Carbajal, 27. The other man killed was identified only as a 21-year-old, Cannon said.

"He was friendly, a good man," a cousin said of Carbajal, who worked at a fast-food restaurant and had a child.

"There's unknown motive as to why anybody would do this," Cannon said. "Our investigators were not able to determine it after several interviews out at the scene."

Police had few details and were calling for anyone with information to offer anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers, which pays up to $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest of suspects. Anonymous tips can be submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org, by phone at 713-222-TIPS (8477), or via text by sending TIP610 plus the tip to CRIMES (274637).

"The only information (homicide detectives have) been able to obtain is that the suspects possibly left in a dark-colored sedan," Cannon said.

A neighbor was awoken by the sound of three shots around 3 a.m.

"I thought it was someone knocking on the window," 49-year old Heinz Loppnow said. "I jumped out of bed to go look, but I didn't see anything."

A pastor's prayer

The Rev. Tony Vinson at the nearby Clear Lake United Methodist Church said a prayer for the victims at each of his morning services.

"I'm aware that there are tragic circumstance such as these happening everywhere," he said. I just consider it to be very sad, very tragic."

I'm aware that we live in a violent society and this happens all over the city and in the suburbs and I don't think there's anything worse."

Staff writer Zain Shauk contributed to this report.

robert.stanton@chron.com