When intruders held his family at gunpoint, victim fought back and survived 3 bullets

By ROBERT CROWE and MIKE GLENN

Bill Harvey can't explain why he's alive to tell how he wrestled a gun from a robber, shot the man and then survived a barrage of bullets from the suspect's three accomplices.

The violent scene unfolded about 6 p.m. Saturday inside Harvey's west Houston home in the 2200 block of Woodland Park Drive while his wife and five children watched.

"I don't know what to think," Harvey, 34, said Sunday. "I absolutely have no remorse now for killing a man, and I'm trying to figure out if that's right or wrong."

Police said Harvey would not face criminal charges. He was shot in the neck, side and lower back. The wound to his neck barely missed his carotid artery.

The name of the intruder Harvey shot has not been confirmed. He wasn't carrying any identification but investigators said they found an electronic hotel door key in his pocket.

"We're trying to see who he might have been with," said Houston Police Sgt. J.T. Wyers.

Harvey gave this account of the night of the gunfight:

The men showed up at his house posing as customers to the family's shipping business, which transports goods to Honduras. Hondurans living in Houston often use the service to send goods back to family and friends, Harvey said.

Demanded money

Before the men arrived at his home, someone called Harvey to ask if he had any shipping boxes. Though an unusual request on a Saturday, Harvey told the caller he had some at his home.

Four Spanish-speaking men seeking boxes arrived outside Harvey's home about 15 minutes later. While showing the men boxes in his garage, they pulled out guns and ordered Harvey and his wife to give them money.

Inside, the men rounded up the couple's five children in the living room and stood guard over them.

The men repeatedly pointed their weapons at the heads of family members as they demanded money. One man vaguely threatened Harvey by telling him not to worry because he would be sleeping after they left.

"I knew he was going to kill me," Harvey said.

As one man stood guard over Harvey in the kitchen, another took his wife into another room to seek her jewelry.

"After they took my wife I knew I had to do something," he said. "I felt I had to react."

He wrestled the gun out of his captor's hands then shot him dead before the other three men ran back toward the kitchen. A shootout followed as the men fired their weapons at Harvey. He was struck three times as he returned fire until emptying the gun in his hand. His wife and children were unharmed.

"They came out spraying bullets at me," he said. "I wasn't trying to dodge the bullets. I was walking right up to the men to shoot them because I thought I was gonna be killed."

After Harvey left the hospital Sunday, he and his family returned home to gather some belongings before spending the night with family members.

Crime scene investigators marked 21 bullet holes and casings.

"It was a miracle to walk in that house and see all those bullets," Harvey said. "I don't know how my family wasn't grazed and I didn't get hit more than three times."

Police believe at least one of the other men was shot before they fled the home in a late-model gray or silver Honda Accord with temporary license plates.

Harvey's wife later told police she thought the intruders might be from Honduras. "They all spoke Spanish — she thought it was a Honduran accent," Wyers said.
Although the investigation into the armed robbery is continuing, Wyers said police believe Harvey's account.

A terrifying home invasion left a man dead in southeast Houston. But it's not the homeowner. It's an apparent criminal.

Police say late Friday night, a couple was just getting home on Flushing Meadow at Astoria when five masked men approached them and forced their way inside the house. The husband got into a struggle with one of the intruders, took his gun away, and shot him to death.

The four other men, claiming to be FBI agents, took off in a gray Chevy Impala. Right now, the search is on for those men.
Police say a similar incident happened a week ago in west Houston, when a homeowner killed a robber after wrestling his gun away from him.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

HOUSTON -- The owner of a southwest Houston pawnshop opened fire on three armed men who tried to rob his business and the shootout was caught on tape, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.
Gunmen entered the A Plus Pawn Shop, in the 11200 block of South Wilcrest, on March 28, and started shooting, according to witnesses.
"I grabbed the first gun I could find and started firing," owner Steve Smith said. "They planned on taking us out, I think. That's the way I figured because they never said a word."
Witnesses said the gun battle sounded like fireworks.
"It looked like a scene from a movie at first. It was like, this cannot be happening," a witness said.
A female employee was shot in the chest and survived.
The shootout was caught on tape by the store's new surveillance video system.
"I really would like to get them off the street because it's going to happen to somebody else," Smith said.
With 20 years in the business, Smith said he has never come face-to-face with gunfire.
"I’m kind of afraid to leave here sometimes because I'm afraid something's going to happen, like they may come back after me," he said.

A man turned the tables on two men who tried to carjack him. Now one suspected carjacker is dead and the other is on the run.
The shooting happened around 11:30pm at the Sliver Springs apartments on South Willow near South Post Oak in southwest Houston. Police tell Eyewitness News that the man was returning home on South Willow near South Post Oak when a gunman approached him in the parking lot and demanded money and his car.

The man shot at the victim after he handed over his keys, but the victim had his own gun and returned fire, shooting and killing one of the carjackers.
An accomplice took off in the victim's car and apparently returned to the scene to pick up his friend. That's when the suspect got into a shootout with the victim. The suspect then tried to get a away again but he didn't have a very smooth exit.
"He ran into some parked vehicles and wasn't able to go any further," said I.F. Flores, Jr. with the Houston Police Department. "He jumped out of the stolen car and ran on foot."
Authorities said that the accomplice may have been injured in the incident and police will be checking local hospitals to see if he sought medical attention.
The victim was not hurt. Police say the shooting appears to be self-defense, but the case is still being referred to the district attorney's office.

Fort Bend officials said the discovery of a man’s body led to the arrest of five home invasion suspects.

Someone called 911 Sunday night and reported finding a body in Katy.

Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said they found five people at the scene and after questioning them, got a confession.

Fort Bend officials said they were dispatched to the same residence in the 5500 block of Maybrook Park Lane two times – once Saturday morning and then Sunday night.

Officials said on Saturday, the suspects allegedly tied up two victims inside and were trying to steal a safe when the homeowners arrived.
A suspect shot at the homeowner, and the bullet grazed his head, officials said.

On Sunday night, officials said the suspects returned and exchanged gunfire with the homeowner.

Officials said a female suspect was shot and killed. (Dang!)

The suspects fled, and Fort Bend officials said another one of the suspects may have suffered a fatal gunshot wound because of the body found at 20700 Cranfield.

The body was identified as 23-year-old Omar Medrano, and officials believe he may have been involved in the Sunday night home invasion.

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