By Brooke Mallory, OAN Staff
Friday, August 9, 2024 4:12 PM
A Houston middle school teacher is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of a 15-year-old girl who was the victim of an assault and attempted sexual assault after the teacher confronted the man, threatening him while pulling a gun on him.
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Investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported the incident happened just before midnight Sunday on Houston’s east side.
The shocking video shows middle school teacher David Garza running from his home in just his boxer shorts and armed with a weapon, explaining that he was simply “following his instincts” after hearing a woman calling for help in the distance.
“I looked out the window and saw a man punching a woman who was on the ground. [also] “She was trying to take her clothes off,” Garza said.
Garza said he went to get his gun first, then, without hesitation, immediately began searching for the gunman and the girl.
“I ran upstairs, grabbed my gun, and I went outside and asked what was going on, and she yelled, ‘I’m 15, help me,’ so I pointed the gun at him,” Garza explained.
At this point, the attacker had grabbed the young victim by her hair and was apparently attempting to remove her clothing, but Garza arrived on the scene with a gun and stopped the attacker, allowing the girl to escape.
“He let go right away. He chased her and I chased him. She ran away. She went to an apartment of someone she knew,” Garza said.
A neighbor who spoke to reporters said Garza prevented a 15-year-old girl from suffering a life-threatening injury said she saw the incident from her window but didn’t know what to do until Garza intervened.
“At first I was really scared that she was going to be raped. I think if he hadn’t come out to me, she probably would have been raped,” she said.
The 15-year-old girl was reportedly riding a bus alone when the suspect noticed her. He got up and walked away, then followed her from behind before chasing her across the street to an apartment building. After the girl turned around and realized the suspect was following her, he ran up to her, attacked her and pushed her to the ground.
Investigators have obtained camera footage of the suspect getting off the bus but are still searching.
Garza has been hailed as a hero, but he told reporters he was just doing the right thing and that this was not the first time he had pursued someone trying to harm a minor.
“I was scared too, I won’t lie, but she needed help more than I feared, so I had no choice but to do it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Andy Kahan, victims advocate at the group Crime Stoppers, agreed in his own comments.
“If you’re going to do this where everybody’s there and people can actually see what you’re doing, I’m like, A. Is this your first time? B. We need to get you off the street before you continue to hurt girls again,” Kahan said.
Investigators released a blurry and out-of-focus photo of the suspect, who was wearing blue pants, white tennis shoes and a black hoodie with a white Reebok emblem at the time of the incident.
Call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office 713-221-6000 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-Tips If you have any information regarding his identity or whereabouts.
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