Police search for suspect after deadly Heights bar shooting

A man was killed outside Heights Drive Inn after a 2:30 a.m. shooting call on North Main Street near the North Loop, and Houston police were still searching for the suspect. Officers found the victim shot in the parking lot and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Investigators said the shooting appears to have started with an altercation between the victim and an unknown man before the gunfire. Police have not publicly identified anyone involved, and they had not released a suspect description or any information about a vehicle used to flee the scene. The victim had multiple gunshot wounds.

The killing unfolded at 6714 N Main St, a late-night bar that public listing pages show opened in June 2022 and usually stays open until about 2 a.m. most nights. That timing placed the parking lot squarely in the hours when patrons, employees and drivers are still coming and going from the Heights corridor.

The location also sits in one of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods. The City of Houston says Houston Heights was founded in 1891, incorporated in 1896 and annexed by Houston in 1918. Today, the area mixes neighborhood streets, apartment traffic, nightlife and a heavily traveled stretch of North Main, where a shooting outside a bar immediately raises questions about security measures, camera coverage and closing-time procedures.

Those questions are sharpened by recent violence elsewhere in the Heights area. Houston media reported at least two other fatal Heights-area shootings in March, including one case that led to capital-murder charges against an 18-year-old. The latest shooting is not publicly linked to those cases, but it adds to a tense stretch for a neighborhood that draws late-night crowds and still has residents living blocks from the bars.

HPD homicide detectives are asking anyone with information to call 713-308-3600. Crime Stoppers of Houston is taking tips at 713-222-8477. For now, the case remains open, the suspect remains unidentified and police have not said whether surveillance video from the bar or nearby businesses captured the confrontation or the getaway.