HOUSTON – Police were investigating Monday after an MD Anderson student was fatally shot while driving her car near the Galleria.
Investigators said 30-year-old Gelareh Bagherzadeh was headed to the home she shared with her parents near Augusta and Sugar Hill around 12 a.m. when she was shot in the head through her passenger-side window.
Bagherzadeh crashed her car into a nearby garage and died at the scene.
Police said she was on the phone with an ex-boyfriend when she was shot. He willingly spoke with investigators afterward.
"He heard a loud thud – doesn’t recall hearing any gunshots, but a loud thud. And then a screeching noise. He said it sounded like someone driving away," Richard Bolton of HPD Homicide said.
Neighbors said they were startled by the gunshots.
"All of a sudden I was sitting up, my cat was growling and the other one was freaked out," Sydney Colville said. "I have a gun that I have by my bed. That’s how I knew it wasn’t backfire – I know the sound of a gun."
Colville called 911, and police came to check it out, but it would take a second call from another resident to piece it all together.
"She comes down, walks out of her garage and sees [Bagherzadeh’s] car over there against the garage door, still running. She goes over there, sees the victim lying over the console," Bolton.
Police believe the victim was followed home, or that someone was waiting for her.
"We don’t know right now what all was in the car with her. We don’t know if there were any more valuables in the backseat or anything like that," Bolton said.
Investigators said they were reviewing surveillance tape for clues.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call HPD Homicide at 713-308-3600.
