Houston 19-Year-Old Gunned Down in Cold Blood Inside Autozone as Killer Walks In and Opens Fire
( Image: Montgomery County Police/Facebook)
A tragic shooting at an AutoZone store in Montgomery County, Texas, has left a family and community in mourning after 19-year-old Carlos Perez was gunned down while at work. William Gabriel Aguilar, also 19, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the incident.
The shooting occurred Saturday morning at the AutoZone in Birnham Woods. Police received reports of gunfire around 9:50 a.m. and found Carlos, who had been shot multiple times, according to Click2Houston. Despite fleeing on foot, Aguilar was apprehended nearby.
The store is located just yards from a daycare center where children were practicing gymnastics at the time, heightening the shock for the local community. Carlos, a hardworking and deeply religious young man, had aspirations of building a career in the automotive industry.
Tributes from his loved ones painted a picture of a kind and ambitious individual. David Ackerman, a close friend, told Fox26houston, “He really was the best out of all of us. He was supposed to have a good life, not this. He had dreams. Big dreams. It’s not fair.”
Daylanie Alanis, Carlos’s cousin, expressed the family’s grief in an interview with the Mirror: “We’re heartbroken. We’re sad. We’re angry. We’re feeling all of these emotions… He did not deserve any of this.” She added, “He was very religious.
He welcomed everybody in his life. If someone had a problem, he would help them out, even if he didn’t know them. No matter what, he will always be here with us, in our hearts, in our minds.”
Community members came together to honor Carlos’s memory, gathering outside the AutoZone for a candlelight vigil. A video shared on Facebook showed the heartfelt tribute, with one friend writing, “I love this young man. I will treasure our memories and vacation to the beach after graduation. RIP.”
Captain Adam Acosta of the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office commented on the tragic timing of the incident. “Christmas time is about family. It’s about trying to be together and celebrate, and when something like this happens, it’s very upsetting,”.
Aguilar is now in custody, and the community is left grappling with the loss of a promising young man whose life was cut far too short.
