One man was pronounced dead at the scene and another man was taken to hospital after a shooting in the early hours of Sunday, November 15, 2026, at a party held at an Airbnb short-term rental in Katy, west of Houston, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Source: Houston Stringer

Deputies were dispatched at about 1:30 a.m. to the 4200 block of Audrey Manor, in the Katy area of Harris County. Katy Magazine, reporting the same response, placed the residence on Audrey Lane near the intersection of North Fry Road and Clay Road — the busy residential corridor north of Interstate 10 that runs through this fast-growing suburb.

Source: Katy Magazine

When deputies arrived, they found two men, both in their 20s, with gunshot wounds. Emergency crews pronounced one man dead at the scene. The second man was taken to a nearby hospital; Houston Stringer reported his injuries as non-life-threatening, and Katy Magazine reported he is expected to recover. Neither man has been publicly named in the sources reviewed.

What investigators say happened inside the party

Sheriff's Office homicide Sergeant Sidney Miller said the two men got into an altercation during the party and, based on the preliminary investigation, both appeared to have pulled guns and fired at each other, Houston Stringer reported. Miller said guns were found at the scene and the surviving man was cooperating with investigators.

Source: Houston Stringer

Katy Magazine reported, according to authorities, that an argument broke out at the party, where those present had been drinking heavily, and that the two men reportedly fired on each other. That account matches the sheriff's office version on the central point — an argument inside the party turning into an exchange of gunfire — while the full sequence of who fired first and why has not been established by investigators.

Evidence, witnesses and the next legal step

Deputies were collecting evidence at the residence and canvassing the neighbourhood for witnesses through Sunday, the sheriff's office said. Investigators plan to submit their findings to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether to present the case to a grand jury. No charge was announced in the sources reviewed, and any account of self-defence or fault remains a matter for that process, not a conclusion investigators have published.

Background: a short-term rental, in a residential suburb

Katy is a large, fast-growing suburban community west of Houston in Harris County, built around the I-10 corridor, North Fry Road and Clay Road, with many family neighbourhoods where short-term rentals sit between full-time homes. When a party at a rental house ends in gunfire at 1:30 a.m., the investigation therefore has two tracks at once: the criminal case itself, and neighbours' accounts of what they heard and saw, which deputies were actively gathering by canvassing the street.

For Punjabi and other diaspora families living across the Houston suburbs — including Katy, Cypress and the wider west Harris County area — the practical points are the ones officials have put on record: the scene was a single residence, investigators have not announced any continuing threat in the statements carried by the two outlets, and the surviving man is cooperating. Readers should rely on the sheriff's office and district attorney process for any name, charge or motive, none of which had been confirmed by Sunday afternoon.

What happens next

The case now moves with the homicide investigation: completion of evidence collection and witness interviews, the medical examiner's formal identification process for the man who died, and the district attorney's decision on grand jury presentation. Awaaz Punjab will update this story only if the sheriff's office or the district attorney confirms a name, a charge or a new finding — a reaction or a rumour will not be treated as a new development.