A 90-year-old veteran was killed after he was shot – and then run over with his own car — during a violent carjacking outside a Houston retirement home over the weekend, cops said.
Grandfather of five, Nelson Beckett, was in the parking lot of the Lone Star Living assisted living complex Saturday around noon when the unidentified suspect approached the elderly man and started attacking him, Houston police said, according to reports.
The perp shot Beckett and then jumped into his car, police said. As the suspect fled in the vehicle, he mowed down Beckett, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital, ABC 13 reported.
A neighbor of the assisted living facility reportedly heard a single gunshot during the apparent struggle.
“He had his little shopping cart and a scuffle ensued,” neighbor Rod Boson told KHOU 11.
“They say he put up a good fight. That’s when he got shot. As the suspect backed up, he hit [the victim].”
Beckett was identified by family as the victim Sunday, according to local outlets.
His son Tim Beckett told ABC 13 that his slain father leaves behind two children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
“He loved big and loved his family so much,” his daughter Tami Freund told Fox 26. “To him, everyone had value, and he would do anything for anyone.”
The great-grandfather served in the Navy and attended Abilene Christian University before working in sales, his family members said. He was also active in his church.
“Nelson more than most people I know loved being with people,” Southwest Central Church of Christ senior minister Steve Sargent said during Sunday services. “He loved swapping stories, telling jokes and showing pictures.”
Police said the carjacker remains on the loose and is considered “armed and dangerous,” KPRC reported.
Beckett’s car was found less than three miles away, dumped at another apartment complex, authorities said.
“This is… This is just, it’s pathetic as it gets,” Houston police Lt. Jonathan French said, per the station. “That’s all I’ll say.”