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| Police Investigating Drive-By Shooting of Jazmine Barnes Seek Public’s Help | Police Investigating Drive-By Shooting of Jazmine Barnes Seek Public’s Help |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| In the days after Jazmine Barnes, 7, was fatally shot inside a moving car near a Walmart outside Houston on Sunday morning, the police have released just one concrete clue about her killer: an image of a red pickup truck recorded by a surveillance camera near the scene of the shooting. | In the days after Jazmine Barnes, 7, was fatally shot inside a moving car near a Walmart outside Houston on Sunday morning, the police have released just one concrete clue about her killer: an image of a red pickup truck recorded by a surveillance camera near the scene of the shooting. |
| The authorities believe that the gunman, described as a man in his 30s or 40s with a beard and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, was driving the truck. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office believes the gunman fired at random into the car in which Jazmine was riding with her mother and three sisters, a 6-year-old and two teenagers. A bullet struck Jazmine in the head, her mother said. | |
| The police said Wednesday that they still had not identified the gunman. But the case has drawn the attention of national civil rights activists and fueled speculation that the shooting was racially motivated. The gunman is white, the police said, and Jazmine was black. | The police said Wednesday that they still had not identified the gunman. But the case has drawn the attention of national civil rights activists and fueled speculation that the shooting was racially motivated. The gunman is white, the police said, and Jazmine was black. |
| At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said officers were pursuing a number of tips they had received, and taking a fresh look at a similar — and still unsolved — shooting that took place nearby in 2017. The department was also increasing patrols amid concerns that the gunman could strike again. | At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said officers were pursuing a number of tips they had received, and taking a fresh look at a similar — and still unsolved — shooting that took place nearby in 2017. The department was also increasing patrols amid concerns that the gunman could strike again. |
| “We’re not going to stop until we solve this case,” Sheriff Gonzalez said. | “We’re not going to stop until we solve this case,” Sheriff Gonzalez said. |
| Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, and her sisters met with Harris County investigators on Wednesday morning to help them create a composite sketch of the gunman, said Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the family. | Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, and her sisters met with Harris County investigators on Wednesday morning to help them create a composite sketch of the gunman, said Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the family. |
| In another effort to garner the public’s help, Mr. Merritt and Shaun King, a prominent racial justice activist and a columnist at The Intercept, have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest. | In another effort to garner the public’s help, Mr. Merritt and Shaun King, a prominent racial justice activist and a columnist at The Intercept, have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest. |
| On Thursday, DeAndre Hopkins, a wide receiver on the Houston Texans, said that he would donate his paycheck from the team’s playoff game this weekend to help pay for Jazmine’s funeral on Saturday. “When I see Jazmine Barnes’ face, I see my own daughter,” Mr. Hopkins wrote on Twitter. | On Thursday, DeAndre Hopkins, a wide receiver on the Houston Texans, said that he would donate his paycheck from the team’s playoff game this weekend to help pay for Jazmine’s funeral on Saturday. “When I see Jazmine Barnes’ face, I see my own daughter,” Mr. Hopkins wrote on Twitter. |
| Since the reward was announced, Mr. Merritt said he had received several tips from people who said they had seen the same red pickup truck in the area before Jazmine was killed. One person reported seeing a man in a red pickup truck break into a parked car and steal a gun, Mr. Merritt said. | Since the reward was announced, Mr. Merritt said he had received several tips from people who said they had seen the same red pickup truck in the area before Jazmine was killed. One person reported seeing a man in a red pickup truck break into a parked car and steal a gun, Mr. Merritt said. |
| He said he had forwarded those tips to detectives at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. | He said he had forwarded those tips to detectives at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. |
| “We are getting a lot of tips now,” Mr. Merritt said in an interview. “The word is out there.” | “We are getting a lot of tips now,” Mr. Merritt said in an interview. “The word is out there.” |
| Sheriff Gonzalez said he could not confirm details of the tips the police were investigating. But he added that the department appreciated the public’s help and would methodically vet all of the information it was receiving. | Sheriff Gonzalez said he could not confirm details of the tips the police were investigating. But he added that the department appreciated the public’s help and would methodically vet all of the information it was receiving. |
| Besides those possible leads, Mr. Merritt said there might be a connection between Jazmine’s killing and the shooting of two people nearby a year and a half earlier. On Aug. 30, 2017, a white man in a pickup truck opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle at a car carrying A’Vonta Williams and his then-girlfriend’s family, according to the sheriff’s office and Mr. Williams’s mother. | Besides those possible leads, Mr. Merritt said there might be a connection between Jazmine’s killing and the shooting of two people nearby a year and a half earlier. On Aug. 30, 2017, a white man in a pickup truck opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle at a car carrying A’Vonta Williams and his then-girlfriend’s family, according to the sheriff’s office and Mr. Williams’s mother. |
| No one was killed but a bullet traveled through Mr. Williams’s legs, shattering both of them, his mother, Kisshima Williams, said in an interview on Wednesday. Another bullet was lodged in the stomach of his then-girlfriend’s grandmother. | No one was killed but a bullet traveled through Mr. Williams’s legs, shattering both of them, his mother, Kisshima Williams, said in an interview on Wednesday. Another bullet was lodged in the stomach of his then-girlfriend’s grandmother. |
| After the sheriff’s office faced criticism for not aggressively investigating the shooting, which occurred in the chaotic days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, the authorities announced a renewed effort to identify the gunman. But no one has been arrested. | After the sheriff’s office faced criticism for not aggressively investigating the shooting, which occurred in the chaotic days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, the authorities announced a renewed effort to identify the gunman. But no one has been arrested. |
| Sheriff Gonzalez said that investigators were looking into the 2017 case once again “to see if we may have missed anything.” He added that the previous shooting occurred about six miles from the site of the more recent attack, though the victim eventually drove to the area where the more recent one took place. | Sheriff Gonzalez said that investigators were looking into the 2017 case once again “to see if we may have missed anything.” He added that the previous shooting occurred about six miles from the site of the more recent attack, though the victim eventually drove to the area where the more recent one took place. |
| Ms. Williams said that another son read about Jazmine’s killing on Sunday and immediately called her to point out the similarities between the two cases. | Ms. Williams said that another son read about Jazmine’s killing on Sunday and immediately called her to point out the similarities between the two cases. |
| “It has to be the same person,” Ms. Williams said. “It’s too similar.” | “It has to be the same person,” Ms. Williams said. “It’s too similar.” |
| She said that A’Vonta, who is now 22, did not want to talk about the shooting but that he also believed the cases were connected. | She said that A’Vonta, who is now 22, did not want to talk about the shooting but that he also believed the cases were connected. |
| “I talked to him last night, and it’s rough for him because he’s a young man,” she said. “My son was bedridden for four months.” | “I talked to him last night, and it’s rough for him because he’s a young man,” she said. “My son was bedridden for four months.” |