Authorities in Montgomery County and in Huntsville are investigating the shootings of at least four motorcyclists Friday along Interstate 45, with at least two of the motorcyclists having died, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and multiple news reports.
The shootings reportedly happened in two different locations, in The Woodlands and near the Sam Houston statue in Huntsville. Steve Squier of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said the shootings could be related and that at least one of the victims was a member of an “outlaw motorcycle gang.”
“We think they may be related,” Squier said. “We can’t confirm that at this point. It’s just too early in the investigation.”
There were freeway closures in both areas, according to social media posts by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Huntsville Police Department. The latter authority announced that northbound lanes on I-45 in Huntsville would be “shut down for several hours.”
Squier said the first shooting happened a little after 11 a.m. in the 25000 block of I-45 in The Woodlands area. A 32-year-old white man who was a member of a motorcycle gang was transported to a hospital and later died from his injuries, according to Squier, who said another man might also have been shot at that location while sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
Later Friday, three other motorcyclists were shot along I-45 in Huntsville, where two of them died and the other was injured, according to multiple news reports. Squier said he was aware of at least one fatality in Huntsville.
Squier said he did not have any information to release about a suspected shooter or shooters. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office later said in a news release that the shootings “appear to be gang-related.”
“We do not believe there's a threat to the public,” Squier said. “We believe this is an isolated incident involving what happened here and the incident north of us.”
This is a developing story.
