Paper: Houston Chronicle

Date: Tue 08/21/2007

Police fatally wound armed suspect / The body of his estranged wife is found in a car in West University church parking lot

By DALE LEZON, JENNIFER LEAHY Staff

A man who authorities say killed his estranged wife and then drove to a church with his spouse's body in his car was fatally wounded after opening fire on police in West University Place, the Houston Police Department said.

West University and Southside Place police departments were unaware that the unidentified suspect had dumped his wife's body in the 2007 Chrysler Sebring seen in the parking lot of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. The officers were responding to initial reports of a man seen on church grounds toting three firearms, one of which was a shotgun, shortly before 6 p.m., an HPD spokesman said.

The investigation was continuing late Monday, but investigators said preliminary reports show that the man's wife was killed in the 1800 block of El Paseo near the Astrodome.

The woman has been tentatively identified as a dental student. Authorities think she was shot multiple times shortly after leaving a shuttle bus near her apartment complex about 5:10 p.m.

After the shooting, police said, the woman's husband then took the body and placed it in the rental car before driving to St. Mark's in the 3800 block of Bellaire.

Once the man arrived at the church, police were called. Authorities fatally wounded the man after he opened fire on them.

At the scene late Monday, area residents expressed shock and concern that such a crime could touch their neighborhood church.

No one could be reached for comment at the church, which also houses an elementary and middle school. According to the school's Web site, classes start today.

 

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