Man charged in shooting of Houston homeless man

A view of a home several homeless men have said a man would shoot a gun at them is seen Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Houston with the doors open and ceiling fan on. Police are on the hunt Tuesday for a resident accused of firing at a homeless person, while he was in a vacant lot next to the resident's property near a homeless encampment in Midtown. Jamin Kidron Stocker, 33, was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, said Kese Smith, spokesman for the Houston Police Department. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle ) less A view of a home several homeless men have said a man would shoot a gun at them is seen Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Houston with the doors open and ceiling fan on. Police are on the hunt Tuesday for a resident ... more Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Man charged in shooting of Houston homeless man 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Police are on the hunt for a Houston man accused of shooting a homeless man in the leg.

Jamin Stocker, 33, is accused of firing at the 50-year-old man from the balcony of the townhome in a Midtown neighborhood where friction has been growing between homeowners and residents of a burgeoning homeless encampment nearby.

Stocker, however, was apparently not just another frustrated homeowner. Neighbors said he had been living in the home, which went into foreclosure in 2008 but appeared to have reverted to the previous owner last month.

The news that Stocker was charged in the shooting shocked activist Shere Dore, who said he was a civil rights activist who spent years fighting for Houston's marginalized communities.

"It wasn't like him to do something like this," Dore said.

Dore said the change in his behavior may have come from a recent attack - he was robbed several weeks ago while walking in the Third Ward.

Stocker was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and remained at large Tuesday afternoon.

He is accused of firing at the man just before 10:30 p.m. Monday as several homeless people hung out in an abandoned lot near the corner of Caroline and Wheeler, said Kese Smith, spokesman for the Houston Police Department.

By the time the HPD SWAT team arrived at the home moments after the shooting, no one was home, Smith said. Officers found a stockpile of weapons inside.

Police said the injured man was charging his phone at an outlet at the lot. The owner of a nearby food truck, who uses the electricity during the day, lets the area's homeless people charge their devices at night, said Lakeith Jones, 42, who lives on-and-off at the nearby encampment.

The injured man spent most nights in the abandoned lot and may have been sleeping, said Trampus Edwards, 50, who also stays at the encampment.

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Stocker doesn't have a violent criminal history in Harris County, though he did have several run-ins with the law over weapons, according to court records.

In April, Stocker pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a weapon, a misdemeanor charge, after police spotted him in 2015 with an unregistered firearm silencer, court records show. During the course of that investigation, officers seized a handful of pistols and ammunition from his home.

In 2007, Stocker pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a handgun.

In 2013, a jury cleared him of a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing after he was accused of squatting in an abandoned home. The jury concluded he had greater claim to the home than its owner, records show.

Jonathan Piefer, 37, an attorney who lives in the Midtown area, said Stocker appeared to have moved into the townhome on Rosewood about a year ago.

The home went into foreclosure in 2008 but ownership was returned in July to its pre-2008 owner, according to records from the Harris County Central Appraisal District.

The shooting is not the first reported by homeless men in the area. Jones and Edwards, who live at the nearby encampment, said they were targeted earlier this week while charging their phones. And another homeless man showed what he said were wounds on his hip from a rubber pellet that he said was fired off the townhome balcony.

Police acknowledged there has been tension between nearby homeowners and residents of the encampment, which has grown up under Interstate 69 at Caroline.

The city on Aug. 10 evacuated the encampment briefly for cleaning after deeming the area a health hazard.

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The camp, which started about a year ago with a single couch, grew to a peak of about 50 tents, according to counts from an HPD homeless outreach team. A crew power-washed the area but many of the residents returned almost immediately afterward.

Nearby homeowners say they have invested thousands of dollars in security equipment and gates to keep the homeless population off their property. Signs advertising home security systems and guard dogs litter the neighborhood.

Piefer said he has called HPD countless times after people have defecated on his lawn and recently spent $400 on security cameras. He said his primary concern is not with the homeless people but with criminals who use appear to use the encampment as a place to hide.

"We just need help," Piefer said.