HOUSTON — Houston firefighters found themselves targeted by an active shooter when responding to a mass shooting call Sunday.
“As we almost came to a stop, is when he shouldered his rifle and started aiming at us and firing on us. I could see him through the rest of the windows,” Houston Fire Captain Ross Embald said.
Firefighters arrived on scene only 90 seconds after the call before the shooter began firing at them, reported Click2Houston.
“And then immediately after that he pulled his rifle or AR-15. Whatever it was, he pulled it and pointed it at us and started firing. And that’s when we immediately drove off further down the road,” Embald said.
A Houston Fire Department firefighter showed me this mark left by a bullet fired yesterday near Memorial Drive. pic.twitter.com/iWGch9FUeD
— Jace Larson, KPRC (@jacelarson) May 30, 2016
Embald radioed that no other firefighters should respond to the location.
Veteran firefighter and U.S. Marine Chris Horst said that, “Every situation that we go into it’s an unknown. There’s no known entity. We could have someone there who wants to do us harm. We’re never going to know for 100 percent certain.”
The shooting left six injured and one dead. Houston Police SWAT killed the gunman. No firefighter injuries were reported.
A large sign thanking first responders was posted where the shooting took place.
Decorated Army veteran reportedly identified as gunman in Houston auto shop shooting rampage https://t.co/74bSjrrwsK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 31, 2016