KATY, Texas — A teen was killed in a shooting near Cypress Lakes High School in west Harris County on Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The call about the shooting came in around 10:30 a.m. It was reported to have happened along Greenhouse Road across from the high school.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Jake Mason, 17, was waiting to pick up his girlfriend, who is a student at the high school, when he was shot and killed. The shooter is described as being a juvenile wearing black clothes who ran away from the scene. Gonzalez said the motive for the shooting is unknown.
Mason was pronounced dead at the scene and multiple people were detained. Investigators said multiple rounds were fired.
It wasn't clear if anyone from the school was involved in the shooting, but HCSO Major Saul Suarez said they spoke with several people.
“We do have persons detained who are from the school, but we don’t have that information if it was related to the school at this point,” Suarez said.
Suarez said the people who were detained were of all different ages.
Schools in the area took precautions once they caught wind that something was going on.
Three schools -- Cypress Lakes High School, McFee Elementary and Emery Elementary Schools -- were all placed in secure mode. That has since been lifted.
"We went into secure. We lifted the secure once we knew the scene was safe," Cypress Fairbanks ISD Police Chief Eric Mendez said.
Suarez said a black four-door vehicle was of interest in the case.
"We're thinking that vehicle involved ... it drove away the high rate of speed," Suarez said.
Parents picked up their kids in a controlled manner. Cy Fair ISD police said that they normally have extra officers on campus during the final week of the semester and that will continue. Cy Fair ISD is in the last week of school before winter break begins on Friday.
In the midst of it all, students like Brayden Jackson were wrapping up taking a final.
"I just wanted to know what was going on outside the school," Jackson said.
His mom heard gunshots, and like many parents, worried for the safety of her child.
"You know, sometimes it sounds far away. I wasn’t expecting it to be right here at the school," Brayden's mother, Telida Joiner, said.
For Joiner and the other parents in her shoes, it was a sigh of relief when they were able to get to the front doors of the school and take their kids home.
"I almost cried over there when I saw my son," another mother said.
Anyone with information is asked to call HCSO at 713-221-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
Here’s a map of where the shooting happened: