Police say school resource officers helped quickly ID two teens accused in a deadly west Houston METRO bus shooting. Both were already facing other charges.
HOUSTON — Once surveillance images were released, it was only a matter of hours before authorities found and arrested two suspects believed to be responsible for a deadly shooting on a METRO bus in west Houston.
A source close to the investigation said the suspects were identified after investigators circulated images of them to Houston-area school resource officers.
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Houston police identified the suspect believed to have fired the fatal shot as 17-year-old Brayden Smith, who has been charged with murder. The other suspect was identified as Patrick Scott, 18. He’s been charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon, authorities said.
The shooting and the victims
The shooting happened around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Richmond Avenue and Walnut Bend Lane in west Houston. According to Houston police, Smith fired the shots that killed a 25-year-old victim. Scott allegedly returned fire, injuring another teenage passenger.
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When officers arrived at the shooting scene, they found 25-year-old Caitlin Stup suffering from a gunshot wound. She later died at the hospital. A 16-year-old male was also wounded in the shooting and was released from the hospital Thursday morning.
What we’re learning about the suspects
The Alief Independent School District confirmed with KHOU 11 that Smith is a current student and Scott is a former student.
Court records show Scott was in court on an unrelated charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon on Tuesday, a day before the shooting. He was recently released from custody after his bond was lowered from $50,000 to $15,000 in November. That charge stems from an incident last summer.
Scott appeared in probable cause court on Friday morning. During the appearance, prosecutors mentioned his prior criminal history while discussing his bond.
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“He’s already out on bond for a misdemeanor evading as well as a felony aggravated robbery. One of the conditions of his aggravated robbery is not to possess any weapons,” the state said.
Court records show that Smith was already on probation for attempting to commit aggravated robbery in an unrelated case.
How they were caught
Houston police said homicide detectives worked with several agencies, including the Alief ISD Police Department. They said that collaboration during the investigation “resulted in the apprehension of both suspects.”
METRO police said they quickly shared surveillance video with investigators.
While Houston police, Metro police and Alief ISD police wouldn’t go into further detail, citing the ongoing investigation, KHOU 11 asked former Houston police officer Thomas Dixon to weigh in on the case and the process of finding and arresting the suspects.
“They’ll probably send out a mass email to different (school) resource officers, law enforcement in the school district, and ask them if they recognize that teenager. Inevitably, somebody will, because people don’t shoot people on METRO buses as their first offense,” Nixon said. “I can assure you, they were probably recognized in about five minutes. Once you get the school district involved, they’ll have experience with certain people who are constant troublemakers and they’ll be able to identify them.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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