A man wearing an orange suit and top hat resembling a costume from “Dumb and Dumber” was shot outside a Houston apartment Thursday after allegedly trying to push his way inside while a couple and their baby were home.
Police said the resident woke shortly before 2:30 a.m. to someone kicking the door and trying its handle at an apartment in the 2300 block of Bering Drive. His girlfriend and their 1-year-old child were also inside.
The resident asked his girlfriend whether she knew the visitor. When she said she did not, he grabbed an AR-15 rifle and opened the door, investigators told KPRC-TV.
Police described the confrontation as beginning at the doorway, after the resident chose to open it while holding the rifle. An argument followed. According to police, the man outside attempted to force his way past the resident, who fired and struck him in the upper body.
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The wounded man was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Neither the resident nor his girlfriend or child was hurt, KIAH-TV reported, citing police.
Investigators said the wounded man wore a Halloween costume with an orange suit and top hat resembling an outfit from the Jim Carrey flick “Dumb and Dumber.” They also raised the possibility that he lived in the same complex and had approached the wrong door after a party.
Police believe he may have been intoxicated, but did not establish whether he mistakenly arrived at the apartment or intended to enter it. Both men were believed to be in their 30s.
Two other Halloween-related incidents, both at Spirit Halloween stores, left people dead in California and Michigan. Authorities described separate shootings, with no reported link between them or the Houston confrontation.
In Fairfield, California, police identified the woman killed inside a Spirit Halloween store at Solano Town Center as 31-year-old Constance Hages. Her family told investigators she had been pregnant, but the Fairfield Police Department said that had not been confirmed.
The Solano County Coroner was expected to determine whether Hages was pregnant during an examination.
The Fairfield shooting happened on the eve of Halloween, while customers were inside the seasonal store. Officers responded to reports of gunfire at the shopping mall around 8:30 p.m. Friday. Seven people suffered gunshot wounds, including Hages, who subsequently died.
Police said the shooting appeared to be a targeted incident involving a single suspect inside the store. Detectives were reviewing surveillance footage and other evidence to identify that person, and no arrest had been announced. Investigators did not disclose what sparked the violence.
Witness Miena Davis had just entered the store when she heard noises that sounded like popping. A second burst sent shoppers scrambling.
“Everything froze and was like, ‘What was that?’” Davis recalled. “And then another round of the same sound went off and then a bunch of shoppers started running.”
People forced open a gate leading back into the mall to escape, according to Davis. She left her car in the parking lot overnight after fleeing the gunfire.
“It was immediate panic,” she said. “You heard a mom crying out for their child. And it just was so surreal.”
The surviving victims included a 16-year-old boy, a 19-year-old man and a 32-year-old man, all listed in critical condition Saturday. A 23-year-old man was described as critical but stable.
Two more men, ages 19 and 43, had been treated for gunshot wounds and released from the hospital.
The Fairfield Police Department thanked the agencies that helped secure the mall and urged the community to remain vigilant during Halloween celebrations, including reporting suspicious activity.
Another fatal shooting occurred late Friday afternoon inside a Spirit Halloween store in Madison Heights, Michigan. There, police said the victim and suspected gunman were both 21 and knew each other.
The two men got into an altercation before the suspected shooter fired multiple times, killing the other man, CBS News Detroit reported, citing police.
Members of the victim’s family then assaulted the suspected shooter, who was hospitalized with injuries. Authorities did not disclose the cause of the original confrontation, and no charges were specified.
Spirit Halloween said Saturday that both affected stores would remain closed through the end of the season. A company spokesperson addressed the deaths in a statement provided to CBS News.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic incidents that occurred at our Spirit Halloween stores,” the spokesperson said. “We extend our condolences to the families and individuals whose lives have been altered by these terrible events.”
