Houston Park Ranger Shot By Guy Who Really Wanted Him to Turn His Headlights Off
Sometimes, if you're in a public park, you want a little privacy, a little darkness, to do whatever it is you want to do that would require privacy and darkness in a public park.
Things escalated, let's just say.
So if a city Park Ranger comes by with his headlights blaring, you naturally are going to yell at him, get a gun and shoot the shit out of his marked vehicle.
And, because you've got the kind of luck that involves headlights shining at a time when you most want privacy, you now not only face charges of shooting up a city-owned vehicle, but because something ricocheted off your little bulletfest and hit the ranger, you're in trouble for (slightly) injuring a park ranger.
Well done, sir. Good decision to not just wait out the three minutes it would have taken for the ranger to close the gate he was messing with and then go on his way, along with his bothersome headlights.
Ranger David Watson, 31, was injured at Keith Weiss Park near Bush Intercontinental Airport Sunday night in the incident. Watson was treated and released for a leg wound, Houston police say.
Watson was locking the gates to the park about 9 p.m. when a Hispanic male approached him and told him to shut off his headlights, police say. Watson told him the park was closing, and then:
The suspect then began yelling and cursing at Ranger Watson to turn off the headlights, before walking to a gold Toyota Camry where he retrieved a black revolver and started shooting at the ranger's marked city vehicle. The suspect fired several times, striking the city vehicle. Ranger Watson was also struck in his right leg, possibly by a bullet fragment.
As we say, dude really wanted those headlights off.
Watson drove away from the scene and called police; by the time they got back to the area, the man was gone.
He's described as a Hispanic male "18-25 years old, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with crew cut hair and wearing a black shirt and black shorts." Whatever you do, don't shine your headlights on him.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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