Two people were killed and three others were critically injured when a shootout erupted at a Houston-area flea market busy with families on a Sunday afternoon, police said.
The five were caught up in an altercation at the market that erupted when at least two people involved in the fight pulled out guns and the sound of shots rang out about 1:07 p.m., Harris County Sheriff's Maj. Susan Cotter said.
She said at an impromptu news conference that two or more of the men in the altercation "exchanged gunfire with each other."
No bystanders were injured, Cotter said. Two men believed to be connected to the altercation were pronounced dead at the scene, and three other people were rushed to separate hospitals with critical injuries, she said.
Of at least two suspects in the violence, one was among the hospitalized, she said, and the other was detained at the scene.
Angel Flores-Lopez, who was uninjured, has been charged with tampering with evidence “for his role in the shooting,” according to a Monday statement from Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
It was not immediately clear if Flores-Lopez had retained an attorney.
No charges have been filed against any of the victims in regard to the shooting, Gonzalez added Monday.
Authorities said the shootout happened north of the Houston city limits in an area that's home to several flea markets
Gonzalez said thousands of people may have been in and around the market Sunday.
"The five got into a fight, which ended up in them drawing guns," Cotter said.
She later indicated that the altercation could have involved six or seven people.
She said bullets were flying as "a lot of people" were shopping and "just trying to enjoy the flea market..
The violence was not random, authorities said.
"It looks like all five of them knew each other," Cotter said. "It doesn't appear any innocent bystanders were injured."
Investigators have some video of parts of the attack, but they are still searching for video of the entire altercation, she said.
Witnesses have been hard to find, Cotter said. "Pretty much everybody scattered," she said.
She described the scene just after the guns cooled as "very fluid, very chaotic."
