X/HPD
Police search for a suspect in the 3200 block Walnut Bend after a woman was shot and killed on a METRO Bus. Jan. 7, 2026. (X/HPD)
A woman is dead following a shooting on a METRO bus in Houston on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Houston Police Department.
As of approximately 5 p.m. Wednesday, HPD said it and the METRO Police Department, along with K9 units, were searching for the suspected shooter, who was described as a man in his late teens or early 20s. He is about 6-foot-tall and was wearing a black hoodie with gray shorts and “sliders.”
The shooting occurred in the 3200 block of Walnut Bend.
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Police said the victim was a woman in her mid-20s and that she had not yet been identified. After the shooting she was transported to a hospital, where she later died as a result of her injuries, according to police.
In a statement to Houston Public Media, a METRO spokesperson said the shooting occurred on bus #2611 on Route 161 near Walnut Bend at Richmond Avenue at approximately 2:32 p.m.
METRO Police Chief Ban Tien said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon that someone entered a METRO bus and shot the woman. Police said the preliminary investigation did not indicate that the suspected shooter knew the victim.
However, Tien said the shooter was targeting “certain individuals” when the victim was shot. Tien described the victim as an “innocent bystander.”
Tien said no other injuries were reported and that HPD would take over as the primary investigators and treat the case as a homicide.
Tien asked that anyone in the area at the time of the shooting to come forward with any possible information.
This is a developing story.