BEAUMONT, Texas — The Beaumont Police Department is investigating a double shooting that took place at the Super 8 Motel off of IH-10 South, near college street.
Police responded to multiple shots fired just after midnight Friday morning. They found two victims suffering multiple gun shot wounds inside one of the rooms.
Police say the victims were taken to the hospital in critical condition, but they're now stable.
Sergeant Cody Guedry says detectives are still investigating what led up to the shooting, but they believe that "the shooting stems from on-going illegal activity." They believe the suspect and victims knew each other.
Guedry says detectives will have to interview the victims to know what exactly led up to the shooting. While it's unclear what "illegal activity" was going on Guedry says they've seen an increase in prostitution and drug related crimes over the last three months in the area the shooting took place.
"Whether it's coming from narcotics to prostitution, we have had an up tick in those crimes in that area, as well as evidence of that at the scene, but before we go in that direction we need to interview and talk to everybody and cover every basis," he said.
Guedry says some in the community believe prostitution is a "victim-less crime," but that's not the case. He says it leads to violent behavior, and this incident is a prime example of it.
"In the end it leads to violent crime because people are either going to get set-up to get robbed, or, you know, when the transaction of money happens things get bad," Guedry says.
Through their investigations, Guedry says officials oftentimes find that the women in these situations are being trafficked. Many of these women are underage. He says their narcotics unit works with several agency's to make busts and save these women.
He says the narcotics unit is working around the clock to stop these crimes, but they need the community's help. He says a couple of things to look out for are women staying in hotels or motels multiple days in a row, and men coming in and out. Also, if someone is treating her badly, he urges you to notify police. Overall, he suggests picking up cues from basic human interactions, and trusting your gut feeling.
"If you see these things going on, or you now this is going on in this area or this palce, contact us, let us know," Guedry said.
The investigation into the double shooting is ongoing. If you have any information, you're asked to call the Beaumont Police Department. You can also leave an anonymous tip with Southeast Texas Crime Stoppers.
CRIME STOPPERS | Submit a tip @ 833Tips.com
If you have information about this crime you could earn a cash reward of up to $1000 by providing an ANONYMOUS tip to Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas.
Call 833-TIPS (8477) or text “BMT” followed by your tip information to CRIMES (274637) from your mobile phone.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
From a Beaumont Police Department news release…
On Friday, January 3, 2020 at 12:07 a.m., Beaumont Police responded to 1110 IH-10 S (Super 8 Motel) in reference to multiple calls of shots fired.
When Officers arrived, they located two victims inside a room, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Both victims were transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
Preliminary investigation leads detectives to believe that the shooting stems from on-going illegal activity and the victims and suspects knew each other.
The investigation is on-going.