Residents Demand Action After Two Meyerland-Area Shootings

One infant dead, another recovering from serious injuries, both the result of shootings in an area full of family neighborhoods and schools, community centers and playgrounds. Messiah Marshall, 10 months old, was laid to rest a few days ago; he was shot in his father's arms. The other boy, 11 months old, was shot by a stray bullet while strapped in his car seat a mere three weeks later.

Two shootings within such a short period of time pushed parents and other concerned citizens to demand action from officials, and on Monday in Meyerland, Houston's mayor, Sylvester Turner, and police chief Art Acevedo sought to assure their constituents that things were under control.

"Neighbors are angry, and we are doing whatever we can to take action and make our voices heard, because we want our neighborhood back," the mother of the 11-month-old told the Houston Chronicle's Mark Collette.

At the meeting on Monday evening, held at the Rubenstein Jewish Community Center, a few hundred people showed up and voiced their concerns about the shootings and crime in general, which many see as on the rise.

Two apartment complexes in the area — Nob Hill Apartments and the Villages at Meyerland — are under scrutiny, and they came up at the meeting.

"There's a lot of concern that the apartments over the last five to 10 years have degraded to the point where they are not what our community represents," said Alan Lipman, associate director of the community center.

A manager of the Villages, Jeff Randolph, was at the town hall, and reported that the complex did have a crime problem, adding that two police officers live on the premises and that 42 security cameras had recently been installed.

"We actively enforce our lease terms and community rules and will evict any residents who take part or have guests who take part in criminal activity," he said.

Messiah Marshall was shot at Nob Hill, but Ellen Cohen, a member of the Houston city council, said she thought the shootings were an anomaly.

"I think the complex itself is, from what I know, a good complex," she said in an interview with the Chronicle. "We haven't had a tremendous number of calls from that area."

Acevedo and Turner have said that violent crime rates are up in Houston, and told the crowd that extra patrols had been installed in the Meyerland area before the two shootings, a decision based on data received by the police department.

"We're going to take back these apartments one complex at a time," Acevedo said, referring to Nob Hill, the Villages, and other complexes.

For more, see the story at the Houston Chronicle

— Image: Houston Police Department