Police have arrested a Houston man who opened fire on his ex’s children and terrorized them into making a daring escape during a horrifying rampage at a Texas apartment.
32-year-old Willie Simpson III was texting his ex-girlfriend and demanding to enter their northwest Houston apartment before he arrived and confronted her 19 and 16-year-old sons on the stairs outside the building last Sunday, a criminal complaint obtained by the Kansas City Star states.
Reports indicate that Simpson lived with the children and his ex-girlfriend the day the shooting took place, but the mother told him he was not allowed to enter the home, said the complaint.
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At the onset, Simpson seemed calm, yet went on to call the children’s mother and threatened to “kill her kids” if she didn’t immediately come home.
Terrified, the mother called 911, then her son, whom she allegedly heard running for his life up the stairs. According to court records, Simpson reportedly told the brothers to go inside if they wanted to stay alive.
As they bolted the stairs, the Houston man then opened fire, wounding the 19-year-old in the abdomen, said police.
The brave brothers jumped from a second-floor balcony to escape the gunfire once they got inside. Meanwhile, their 13 and 12-year-old sisters had just come upstairs from a pool outing with friends and were changing in the bathroom when they heard shots fired.
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Court documents indicate that the older sister went to investigate, locking the bathroom door with her little sister in it behind her.
Eventually, she came face-to-face with the Houston man, who pointed a gun at her, sending her fleeing into a closet to hide under a pile of clothes, she said to police.
Court records indicate that the terrified 13-year-old then heard Simpson kick open the bathroom door and shoot her younger sister.
Police arrived and took the 12-year-old girl to the hospital in critical condition, and the eldest brother underwent surgery and had to have his spleen removed, said the outlet.
Both kids are expected to survive their injuries, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in a statement.
Simpson was nabbed Friday after a manhunt led by law enforcement and has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a family member, burglary with intent to commit murder, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, police said.
Previously, Simpson has been booked on a slew of charges, including aggravated robbery, assault of a family member, and evading arrest in 2013 and 2022, per court records.
Police say he was being held in Harris County Jail on a $1,050,000 bond.
