Houston security guard arrested in shooting that injured child
HOUSTON TX November 14 2018
Police have arrested an armed Houston security guard after he fired almost a dozen shots at a man running from a theft.
During the shooting, the security guard injured a 6-year-old girl.
The shooting happened around 4 p.m. Monday at a T-Mobile store in the 5500 block of Airline Drive at Tidwell Road.
According to police, two men entered the store. One of them grabbed a phone and took off.
A T-Mobile security guard intervened during the robbery and fired nearly a dozen shots at the man, striking him.
Claire Tidwell, who was in a car in the drive-thru at the McDonald’s next door to the shooting scene, was hit in the leg by a stray bullet, police said.
Her father, Danny Tidwell, told KPRC2 he is still reliving the moments after realizing his daughter was shot.
“We were in the window, we were buying our food and all of a sudden we heard gunshots,” Tidwell said. “Me and my son, we ducked down because it was so loud. We knew it was close but we couldn’t tell where it was coming from. There was people running all over the place … my daughter was in the back seat and she said, ‘Daddy, I’m hurt.’”
Tidwell told KPRC2 there was still gunshots going on when he reached back to stop the bleeding. He drove home and called the ambulance that took Claire to the hospital, where she will undergo surgery Tuesday to remove the bullet.
Claire, Tidwell said, showed how brave she was during the whole ordeal by helping keep him calm.
“When she realized that I was panicking and I was about to lose it, she told me, she said, ‘Daddy, I’m OK. I’m going to be fine,’” Tidwell said. “It could have been a lot worse. We still don’t know the extent of the damage, but she’s alive.”
A woman who identified herself as the security guard’s mother said her son is remorseful about wounding the girl.
The woman said her son’s store has been robbed multiple times — even two days ago — and says his manager gave him permission to fire at a suspect once they left the store.
The security guard is in custody Tuesday after being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
