A Cleveland High School student was shot multiple times in an attack on CR 3405 in the Colony Ridge communities south of Plum Grove around 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
According to Capt. David Meyers, a spokesperson for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, a 17-year-old male student and another male were traveling along CR 3405, a sparsely populated area in the Colony Ridge communities, in an older model maroon Cadillac passenger vehicle when it was fired upon. Bullets fired into the vehicle pierced the doors and windows, striking the 17-year-old male at least five times.
The other occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and fled the scene before returning later to speak to Liberty County Sheriff’s investigators and Texas Rangers, though Meyers said the uninjured male has not been exactly forthcoming with information about the assailants.
The 17-year-old male was taken by ground ambulance to a hospital in Cleveland before being flown to a Houston-area trauma center where he underwent surgery, Meyers said.
“As of yesterday evening, he was out of surgery and was in ICU in unknown condition,” Meyers said.
At the moment, investigators are looking into an altercation between the 17-year-old and other students on a Cleveland ISD bus last week that may have led to the shooting.
“We think this is going to be gang-related all around,” Meyers said. “We don’t know if they are members of two rival street gangs, and we don’t know the affiliation of the one who was shot nor the passenger.”
Information undercovered by investigators has led them to tentatively identify three of the suspected shooters, Meyers said, though none of the suspects has been arrested at this time.
The victim’s car was impounded and will be processed by investigators on Tuesday. No firearms were recovered from the scene.
The victim’s name is being withheld at this time.