(HOUSTON) — A man wielding a shotgun allegedly killed three of his neighbors after setting fire early Sunday to multiple units at a Houston rental complex, including one he was recently evicted from, apparently to lure the victims into an ambush, police said.

The suspect, described as a Black man in his 40s, was shot to death outside the burning residences by a police officer who arrived at the scene as Houston firefighters came under fire and were forced to retreat, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference on Sunday.

“This suspect, unfortunately, and very sadly, very evilly, set fire to several residences, laid (in) wait for those residents to come out and fired upon them,” Finner said.

The episode unfolded just after 1 a.m. Sunday in a southwest Houston neighborhood.

Finner said the suspect, whose name was not immediately released, was recently informed he was being evicted from his room. But Finner said a motive is still under investigation.

“He’s been a longtime resident here and that may have been a trigger point for him. I don’t know, but that’s part of the investigation,” Finner said.

The chief said multiple 911 calls were made beginning around 1:07 a.m. reporting a fire and a shooting.

Fire crews arrived at the scene before police and encountered gunshots, causing them to retreat, said Assistant Chief Michael Mire of the Houston Fire Department.

“As our firefighters came in the crossfire and they retreated, they still focused their attention on possible victims inside the structure. There were two that they were able to pull out,” Mire said.

Finner said a seven-year veteran of the Houston police force arrived at the scene after firefighters came under fire. Finner said the officer saw the armed suspect in a prone position in a parking lot across the street from the blaze and fatally shot him.

“Our officer arrived and took action, and for that, I’m very proud of him,” Finner said.

The officer, whose name was not immediately released, has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation, he said.

Finner said investigators found a shotgun with a spent shell lying next to the alleged gunman’s body. He said it remains under investigation whether the man fired at the officer before he was shot dead.

Finner said two white men, both in their 60s, were fatally shot and perished at the scene. A third gunshot victim he described as a Black male in his 40s was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He said a man in his 40s or 50 was shot in the arm and another survivor was injured running away from the scene.

The landlord of the multi-unit rental complex where the fiery ambush occurred told ABC station KTRK-TV in Houston that the suspect had lived in the complex since 2013, but did not pay rent. The landlord, who asked that his name not be published, confirmed the suspect was evicted and had turned in his keys on Saturday.

Among the victims killed in the episode was the property manager of the rental complex, according to the landlord.

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(PHILADELPHIA) — One year after 8-year-old Fanta Bility was fatally shot by police while leaving a football game in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, her family is grieving her loss and fighting for justice.

“I miss my baby,” Fanta’s mother, Tenneh Kromah, told ABC Philadelphia station WPVI-TV. “Me and Fanta were so close. The other kids, they used to say ‘you love Fanta too much.’ I would say yes.”

Kromah held back tears as she reflected on her love for her daughter. She said that coping with Fanta’s loss — the youngest of her six children — has been “very difficult” over the past year.

The 8-year-old was a “very friendly” girl, her mother said, who loved fashion and enjoyed recording videos on TikTok.

Fanta was shot while exiting a football game with her family at Academy Park High School on Aug. 27, 2021, when officers Brian Devaney, Devon Smith and Sean Dolan fired their weapons toward the crowd after two teens opened fire in a personal dispute close to the high school, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

The three officers were each charged on Jan. 18 with 12 criminal counts of manslaughter and reckless endangerment.

“We have now concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that it was, in fact, shots from the officers that struck and killed Fanta Bility and injured three others,” Stollsteimer said in a January press release announcing the charges.

“This is a terrible tragedy that was caused by armed and violent criminals who turned a high school football game into a crime scene in which an innocent child lost her life and others were seriously injured,” Raymond Driscoll, Steven Patton and Charles Gibbs, the lawyers for the three officers, said in a joint statement after the charges were announced. “These three officers ran to the sound of gunshots and risked their own lives to protect that community. These three good men are innocent, and remain heartbroken for all who have suffered because of this senseless violence.”

The Sharon Hill Borough Council voted on Jan. 21 in favor of terminating the three officers from their positions at the Sharon Hill Police Department.

ABC News reached out to the attorneys representing the three former officers, but requests for comment were not immediately returned.

Family, friends and community members held a rally on Saturday in Sharon Hill to call for justice on the one-year anniversary of Fanta’s death.

Her family shared a photo with WPVI that was taken of Fanta the day she was fatally shot. They said the 8-year-old was napping and initially wanted to stay home but eventually decided to accompany members of her family to the football game to support her sister, who was a cheerleader.

As they cope with her death, there are no photos of Fanta in the family’s living room.

Abu Bility, Fanta’s uncle, told WPVI that videos are now too painful for her mother to watch.

“Whenever she sees Fanta’s photo… it kind of refreshes her memory that it just happened,” he said.

Fanta’s family expressed outrage last month over the release of a heavily redacted report about their daughter’s shooting in Sharon Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia.

The highly anticipated report, which outlines the findings of an independent investigation into the police policies and procedures related to the shooting, was released by the Sharon Hill Borough Council, but many of its findings and recommendations were redacted.

Bruce Castor, the attorney for Fanta’s family, told ABC News in a statement on July 31 that the redacted report is “unacceptable” and “an insult to the memory of Fanta.”

“The heavily edited report raises more questions in the minds of the family and the public than it answers,” Castor said.

“The world will eventually learn how Sharon Hill Borough officials failed to make certain its police trained under realistic scenarios and understood fully when deadly force is permitted under the law and when it is not,” he added.

Courtney Richardson, the Sharon Hill Borough solicitor, defended withholding the information, telling ABC News in a statement on July 31 that the Sharon Hill Borough Council redacted information to protect the ongoing investigation.

“Council has only redacted conclusions and recommendations of Special Counsel in the interest of justice, considering the active litigation in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” Richardson said.

The redacted report is the conclusion of that nine-month investigation and comes after attorneys for the three officers filed a motion to drop the voluntary and involuntary manslaughter charges against the officers, according to WPVI.

When asked about the motion to dismiss the charges, Castor told ABC News on July 31 that the family wants the DA’s office to “do its best to obtain convictions holding the police officers criminally accountable for their actions.”

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