Texas sheriff: 2 dead, seven shot in music video 'ambush'

HOUSTON (AP) - Two men were killed and seven others were wounded by gunfire when a group filming a rap music video was 'œambushed'ť near Houston, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

The Harris County sheriff's office said Saturday morning that 20-year-old Gonzalo Gonzalez and 22-year-old Jonathan Jimenez died at the scene Friday night. The sheriff's office said the seven injured were taken to hospitals and ranged in age from 17 to 23.

The sheriff's office said Saturday that they did not know a motive or have any suspects.

'œWe don't know if there was a beef going on or what exactly happened,'ť Gonzalez said at a news conference just after the shooting.

'œWe know it was a rap video that w as being filmed out here but beyond that we don't know who the performers or who was involved in it, just that there was a large group out there,'ť he said.

The sheriff said authorities received a call about a drive-by shooting around 9:30 p.m. Officers responded to what Gonzalez characterized as a residential neighborhood just north of Houston, where a group of males had been making the video in an office parking lot. The shooting scene stretched several blocks, the sheriff said.

'œThere were other vehicles that were staged there and they were filming some type of music video when, all of a sudden, basically they were ambushed, we believe by individuals in cars and/or foot that fired shots into the parking lot area,'ť Gonzalez said at the news conference.

He said the shooting 'œunfolded very quickly" and it was unclear how many people opened fire. 'œA lot of shots were fired,'ť he said.

The sheriff said Friday night that figuring out who was at the scene will be part of the investigation, and asked for witnesses to come forward.