Police investigate a fatal shooting at a hotel in east Houston on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

Masked gunmen appeared to be "hunting for their victim" before fatally shooting him outside an east Houston motel, police said.

Police are investigating the shooting at Motel 6 at 10155 East Freeway, near Mercury Drive, where a 25-year-old man was shot multiple times early Wednesday.

Police found about 25 shell casings at at the scene, HPD Lt. Ronnie Willkens said during a news briefing.

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Surveillance video showed three men getting out of a gray sedan at the motel, Willkens said. They were "running around" the motel in an apparent attempt to find the man. 

"It looks like they were hunting for their victim," Willkens said.

The three men, wearing masks and hoodies, approached the man as he was walking back to his room with a woman who he was sharing it with, police said in a news release. They shot him several times, hitting him in the head and body.

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The shooting, Wilkens said, may have been prompted by an earlier incident.

 "From what we understand, most likely, it was some kind of altercation that happened at one of these businesses across the street," he said. "There are two clubs across the street." 

The Houston Fire Department took the man to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police added. His identity is pending verification from the Harris County medical examiner.

The three gunmen — described as males in their late-teens and early-20s — also shot at a vehicle leaving the motel's parking lot but it is unknown if anyone inside that vehicle was hurt, authorities added. 

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the HPD homicide division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.

No other information is available at this time.

Joel Umanzor is a Hearst fellow working for the Houston Chronicle's Metro desk as a breaking news reporter

Originally from Richmond, California, he graduated from San Francisco State in 2021.

When not in the newsroom or chasing down a source, he can be found painting, listening to Hip-Hop or watching sports.

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