Bar guard shoots, wounds man in pickup

A man was wounded early Friday morning when a security guard fired a gun shot as the driver of a pickup backed up toward him outside a bar in east Houston.

The shooing happened about 2:40 A.M. outside the the El Amanecer nightclub at 3907 Canal Street, said Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman with the Houston Police Department.

Silva said the guard broke up a fight inside the club and told the people involved in the disturbance to leave. When he saw four of the people get into a white Chevrolet pickup, he told the driver to leave. The driver pulled forward and hit the guard's Chevrolet Suburban that was parked near by. Then he backed up toward the guard, who jumped out of the way.

Silva said the truck driver pulled forward again, hitting the guard's truck a second time. Again, the driver backed up toward the guard. The guard, Silva added, feared the truck was going to hit him and fired one gunshot at the pickup.

Silva said the truck sped away. But the driver soon pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot at 5901 Gulf Freeway when he realized a back-seat passenger had been wounded.

The wounded man was taken by ambulance to Ben Taub General Hospital. Details of his injuries and condition were not released.

No other injuries were reported. The guard was not hurt.

Silva said the other men remained at the scene where the pickup stopped and were questioned by police.

So far, no charges have been filed in the case. Police are investigating the incident.

It was unclear what sparked the fight inside the bar.