A man fatally shot his 20-year-old stepson before killing himself

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6923186.html

Officers: Murder-suicide leaves man, stepson dead

By ANITA HASSAN

Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

March 21, 2010, 7:31AM

A man fatally shot his 20-year-old stepson before killing himself after an argument at an east Harris County home late Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Sheriff's deputies found two men dead when they responded around 5:30 p.m. to a call at a home in the 13900 block of Brownsville, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Janie Alvarez-Wagner said.

The two men started arguing over the stepson taking three siblings to the store, officers said.

During the argument, the 20-year-old stated that he had consent to take the children to the store from his mother, who was not at the home during the incident, authorities said. The man's stepfather then asked him to go outside the home, where he then allegedly shot him, Alvarez-Wagner said.

The three siblings, one who is 18 and the other two under the age of 10, went outside the home and attempted to help the 20-year-old .

One of the children noticed the stepfather fiddling with a gun, officers said. Shortly afterward, the children heard multiple gunshots and found the stepfather on the ground, Alvarez-Wagner said. Paramedics pronounced both men dead at the scene.

The case is under investigation by the Harris County Sheriff's Homicide Division.

anita.hassan@chron.com

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