Harris County: Man Found Fatally Shot Near Suspected Illegal Game Room

Deputies called to a row of businesses in northwest Harris County on Sunday evening found a man shot to death in the alley out back. Investigators believe an altercation began inside one of those businesses, which deputies described as an illegal game room.

The man was 55-year-old Jose Bonilla, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies were sent to the 12400 block of Veterans Memorial Drive around 7 p.m. on September 27. The 911 caller had not given a name and was gone by the time they arrived, and there were no witnesses. Bonilla was lying in the alley with gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators look at the game room

The game room was empty when deputies arrived, though detectives believe several people had been there earlier, Sgt. Jason Brown of the sheriff’s office told ABC13. “During the investigation, it appears that the altercation started inside what’s best described as an illegal game room,” he said.

Investigators also said Bonilla had been in the game room either shortly before or during the shooting. What they had not worked out was where he was shot. According to OnScene TV and FOX 26, investigators had not determined whether it happened inside the game room or just outside it.

Detectives do have video to work with. Brown said they had obtained surveillance footage and were reviewing it.

Few answers in the first reports

That is roughly where the account stood in reports published on September 28. The sheriff’s office had not identified a suspect, and FOX 26 reported that the circumstances and motive behind the shooting were unknown. ABC13 reported that detectives were looking into reports that two people were involved, but investigators gave no details about a suspect.

The September 28 reports from ABC13, FOX 26 and the Houston Chronicle did not report an arrest.

Harris County is not the only part of Texas where suspected illegal gambling has drawn law enforcement attention recently. In separate cases, Bexar County deputies arrested six people in a raid in San Antonio, and three people were charged over an alleged gambling operation at a Texarkana arcade.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez urged anyone with information to call the sheriff’s office at 713-221-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Featured image: A Harris County Sheriff’s Office patrol SUV (file photo). Photo: Jason Lawrence / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)