(Erin Mulvaney, Houston Chronicle)
Four-year-old Isaiah Nicholas held his mother’s hand Saturday in an ambulance, where he lay with a bullet wound to the head, saying over and over “Mamma, I don’t want to die.”
Only hours earlier, several children and adults were at his grandmother’s northeast Houston house in the 9200 block of Madera. They had just ordered some chicken and were about to eat dinner. Children played in a game room on the side of the house.
The grandmother, Lisa Ceasar, said she heard arguing outside around 5 p.m. She went onto her porch just as a man began firing bullets toward the room where six children were playing. He also aimed bullets at the porch where she stood.
Ceasar, 47, ran into her house and saw bullets flying through her hallway. She then ran to the game room and discovered her oldest grandson lying on the ground with a bullet wound in his head and his 2-year-old brother, Adrian Nicholas, sitting next to him covered in splattered blood, she said.
The Houston Police Department said about nine shots were fired into the house. The suspect is known, but has not been found, said HPD spokeswoman Jodi Silva.
Isaiah Nicholas was in critical condition Sunday at Hermann Memorial Children’s Hospital. His parents haven’t left his side since he was shot.
(See the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
OTHER HEADLINES:
- No More Busy Signals at Houston Center for Abuse Victims (Houston Chronicle)
- Galveston Homeowners in Ike Program Facing Liens (Galveston Daily News)
- Catholic Group Calls for Diversity in Wake of TAPPS Official’s Comments (Houston Chronicle)
- Gabrielle Giffords & Mark Kelly Make a Special Appearance for $100 Million Neuroscience Campaign (Houston Culture Map)
- Epilepsy, A Silent Public Health Burden (KUHF Public Radio)
- CDC: Ads Spark Huge Increase to Quit-Smoking Hotline (KHOU 11 News)
- Bromwich: Offshore Drilling Regulators Need to Step It Up (Houston Chronicle)
OPINIONS ON THE NEWS:
Public Schools & Accountability
- Do Schools Have Time to Teach?
(Editorial, Houston Chronicle)
“Yes, accountability is deeply important. But if Texas is going to require so many tests, it has to pay for more days in the school year; and for temporary help, so teachers can stay in their classrooms. Testing is supposed to help our kids get an education. It’s not supposed to get in their way.” - Business Precepts May Not Cure Schools, But Could Help
(Patricia Kilday Hart, Houston Chronicle)
“I get a little uncomfortable in discussions about how good business principles could improve our public schools….The prospect eventually rings false, as when some expert inevitably mentions how businesses measure the cost of producing widgets. Any public school teacher reading this right now will immediately recognize the flaw in this comparison…”