Shots fired after 2 men attempt to rob Katy Mills jewelry store

By R. Hans Miller | News Editor
Posted 6/4/21

Authorities are searching for two suspects after an attempted robbery at a Katy Mills jewelry store shortly after 7 p.m. Friday. Law enforcement officials said no one was hurt during the incident in …

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Shots fired after 2 men attempt to rob Katy Mills jewelry store

Posted

Update June 3 at 11:21 p.m.:  Keith Bowermaster of HPRStrategies, Simon Malls' public relations firm, responded to a request for information on why other businesses in the mall were not informed of the shooting, referring all inquiries to Katy PD. 

Originally posted June 3 at 10:53 p.m.: Authorities are searching for two suspects after an attempted robbery at a Katy Mills jewelry store shortly after 7 p.m. Friday. Law enforcement officials said no one was hurt during the incident in which an employee at the jewelers drew a firearm on the alleged thieves.

“Two young men entered the business with hoodies, masks and gloves. They produced a nail gun – used the nail gun to shatter a display case (and) they began to put items into a duffel bag, at which time an employee of the jewelry store introduced a handgun and fired multiple shots,” Katy Police Chief Noe Diaz said.

Witnesses reported that the store employee fired three shots.

The two men then fled with the duffle bag and some merchandise, though Diaz said they lost much of the merchandise near the entryway just north of Bass Pro Shops as they ran. The men got into a waiting white Mercedes or BMW which then left the scene.

Five marked Katy PD vehicles responded to the scene and Diaz joined them shortly after. Diaz said officers were on the scene in about one minute and forty seconds.

Police were also able to recover merchandise from the scene as well as the nail gun which the two suspects had used to break the display case, Diaz said.

The city’s license plate scanning cameras were able to identify the vehicle and capture the license plate number. The plates were later identified as stolen from an owner in Missouri City, Diaz said.

Andrea Slocum, who was in the mall at the time, said she had been unaware of the shooting when it happened, but heard other mall patrons saying shots had been fired near Bass Pro Shops on the northern end of the mall.

A manager at a Katy Mills establishment who wished to remain anonymous said nobody had informed retailers in the shopping center that a shooting had occurred.

“The mall failed to notify any stores at the other end of the mall,” the manager said via email. “Their emergency communications did not exist. (This is) unacceptable behavior in this elevated climate. Shootings in Katy Mills is NOT normal.”

“We have all of (Harris County Sheriff’s Office) District Four robbery detectives as well as Fort Bend County’s looking for the vehicle,” Diaz said.

The Katy Times has reached out to Simon Malls, operator of Katy Mills, for a statement and is continuing to follow up with law enforcement. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Katy Mills, Katy PD, Noe Diaz