NEW: Texas Man Shoots Teens Attempting Armed Robbery

A group of teenagers learned the hard way that crime doesn’t pay after allegedly attempting to rob a man at gunpoint in Houston, Texas. The incident, which unfolded early Thursday morning, left three of the teens hospitalized after the would-be victim turned the tables, using his own firearm to defend himself.

According to Major J. Suarez of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, four juveniles between the ages of 12 and 14 approached the man while he was walking in the 700 block of Oak Village Drive. Armed with what appeared to be guns, the teens allegedly attempted to rob him. However, it was later revealed that the weapons were BB guns, not real firearms.

The man, reportedly carrying a concealed weapon, reacted by drawing his gun and shooting at the group. Three of the four teens were hit. Police say two are in stable condition, while the third underwent surgery and is expected to recover. The fourth teenager, who was not struck, was taken into custody for questioning.

“The juveniles ranged from ages 12 to 14,” said Major Suarez. “They were all transported to nearby hospitals. Currently, there’s one in critical condition and two in stable condition. Our crime scene investigators and our violent crimes unit investigators responded to the scene and are currently conducting early stages of their investigation.”

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He continued, “We do have a fourth juvenile detained and also an adult male detained. It is believed the incident occurred due to an attempted aggravated robbery that involved the juveniles approached the male and they were displaying pistols. The adult male retrieved his own pistol and shot the juveniles.”

The man admitted to shooting the teenagers and subsequently surrendered to the police. Several firearms were collected at the scene, packaged, and dispatched to the forensic laboratory for analysis. In the Lone Star State, citizens are legally permitted to use deadly force if they feel their life is in imminent danger.

Houston, Texas, USA downtown park and skyline at twilight.

A neighbor recounted springing into action upon seeing one of the teens call for help. “I screamed out to him, ‘Are you OK?’ And he just put his hand in the air and screamed for help and I went and tried to help him,” Bruce Bailey explained to KHOU11.

At the time, Bailey was unaware that an attempted robbery had taken place. “I called the sheriff’s department and ambulance to come and pick up the kid – and of course – at that time I didn’t know it was a little kid,” Bailey recounted. “My other neighbor came and held his hand and was talking to him, trying to keep him alive.”

“Of all things, being Christmas, and this is a child, first thing that comes to my mind is, number one, where is the parent. Number two, if you got here with a gun, what are you doing out here with a gun?” the neighbor said.

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