Man shoots back at would-be burglars, video shows

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas -- At least two would-be burglars opened fire on a business owner after he went outside to stop them from breaking into his company vehicles.

It happened just after 1 a.m. Sunday in the Meadows of Clear Creek subdivision of southeast Harris County.

Pablo Covarrubias said his 19-year-old son woke him up and told him the suspects were trying to break into two vehicles he uses for his HVAC company.

"There was no time to react. I mean, I just had my pistol right there on the side of my bed. I got up," Covarrubias said.

Surveillance video shared with ABC Houston affiliate KTRK shows Covarrubias walking outside with his son. They only make it a few steps when the suspects open fire.

Covarrubias returns fire, and the suspects speed away in what he believes may have been a black BMW.

One of the bullets hits a jack-o'-lantern on Covarrubias' porch, but it's still unclear where his shots may have landed.

"We don't know if the perpetrators, the suspects, were hit," Sgt. Hector Vega with the Harris County Precinct 2 Constable's Office said.

The suspects still haven't been identified, and the constable's office is asking anyone with information to call them.

They're also encouraging people be cautious when defending their property.

"Protecting your property, we have a right to do that, but we have to be mindful: we don't know what they're carrying, we don't know their mindset," Vega said.

Whatever their mindset was before, Covarrubias hopes his shots set their thinking right.

"I think next time they'll think twice, hopefully, that you just can't go around taking people's property," Covarrubias said.