Harris County Sheriff’s investigators questioned five people identified as suspects after back-to-back home invasions and shootouts at a Katy-area residence Saturday and Sunday.
Two people died in the gunfire Sunday night, a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s spokesman said.
One of the dead has been identified as Omar Medrano, 22, of Schiller Avenue, Houston. A woman shot to death during the Sunday night robbery attempt has been identified as Yolanda Vallejo, 30.
According to reports, sheriff’s deputies first were dispatched to the Grand Lakes Subdivision home of Michael Tornero, in the 5500 block of Maybrook Park Lane, just northeast of the intersection of Grand Parkway and F.M. 1093, at 1:54 a.m.
Investigators found that “multiple armed suspects entered the residence and tied two victims that were in the house,” sheriff’s reports said. “As the suspects were in the process of stealing a very heavy safe, the Tornero and his wife arrived at their residence.”
One of the robbers fired shots, causing minor injury as the bullet grazed Tornero’s head, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said. The suspects then fled the scene.
But, according to the sheriff’s department, they apparently returned at 9:55 p.m. Sunday.
According to sheriff’s reports, “The homeowner and suspects exchanged gunfire” at which time Vallejo was shot and killed.
The rest of the suspects “fled the scene in a getaway car” after the gunfire, according to sheriff’s reports. Investigators believe one suspect “may have suffered a fatal shot,” based on a body “dumped alongside the road,” that Harris County Sheriff’s deputies recovered about 20 minutes later in the 20700 block of Cranfield.
The dead man later was identified as Medrano. Fort Bend County Chief Deputy Craig Brady said investigators believe Medrano entered the house along with the dead woman during the last aborted robbery attempt.
According to a Harris County Sheriff’s report, Medrano was driven from the scene of the robbery attempt by other suspects, and was dumped from the car after he died.
Five men suspected of being involved in the robberies were arrested and taken to Harris County Sheriff’s Homicide Division. The five reportedly were arrested but then released.
A sheriff’s department source said the victim of the attempted robberies is in the car repair business.
“These people were a target of opportunity,” the sheriff’s spokeswoman said of the homeowners.
