Family held at gunpoint in Houston apartment

By Calvin Palmer

An armed man held a family at gunpoint in their Houston apartment overnight before fleeing through a back window.

Stephanie Montgomery, 38, said it was about 1:00 a.m. when her visiting brother began ranting and threatening her and three children — her own 11-year-old and 10-year-old sons and the suspect’s two-month-old son.

“I don’t know if it was a mental breakdown, but he felt suicidial,” she said. “He threatened to kill himeslf and everybody in the house.”

Montgomery said her brother has a criminal record and is also schizophrenic. She said he had a bag full of guns, including two rifles, a shotgun, an AK-47 assault rifle and a revolver.

Montgomery and the children were forced into a bedroom around 4:00 a.m. and she was able to call 911 on her cell phone.

When police arrived, the suspect forced her to open the door and not to let them in. Officers grabbed her and pulled her out of the home. One of the older boys later fled with the baby.

Police sent a robot in to investigate around 8:00 a.m. and found the other boy, sleeping. The suspect was gone. His name has not been released by police.

[Based on a report by the Houston Chronicle.]