Councilman Joaquin Martinez went to high school with Stevenson, who was shot and killed at his Bug’s nightclub on Dixie Drive late Sunday. 15 others were wounded.
HOUSTON, Texas — Personal belongings are still scattered around the parking lot outside Bug’s nightclub after a mass shooting left two dead and 15 people injured.
One of the victims of the Sunday night shooting on Dixie Drive in southeast Houston was club owner “Junebug” Stevenson.
“I mean, he’s a brother from another mother,” longtime friend James Briscoe said. “I was devastated.”
Briscoe first met Stevenson when he was 13 years old. He told us that Stevenson was best known as a barber who frequently gave back to the community.
“I woke up to about 50 missed calls, a dozen text messages, Instagram DMs and messages and, you know, it was one of those things that was surreal,” Briscoe said. “I’m still in shock, I’m still coping with it every day.”
Briscoe showed us a City of Houston proclamation that honored Stevenson’s 30 years of cutting hair and other contributions.
Houston City Councilmember Joaquin Martinez knew Stevenson for decades.
“Junebug is how we knew him in high school,” the District I councilman said.
He was shocked to hear about the mass shooting on Dixie Drive that also left a young woman dead. Most of the victims were teens or young adults shot outside the club by someone in a passing car. One victim was a 14-year-old girl.
“We just kind of hurt, right?” Martinez said. “But I have full confidence in HPD and the work that they’re going to be doing to make sure that, you know, we continue to ensure that it’s a safe community for everyone.”
Briscoe doesn’t know why someone would have targeted Stevenson, the club, or anyone else there that evening.
“I mean, it’s a lot of speculation,” Briscoe said. “It could be just envy or jealousy, it could be a random incident. I have no idea why.”
Regardless of the reason, he said the shooter or shooters took a husband, father, son, brother, and friend of the entire community who would have turned 49 in the coming weeks.
Police are still looking for suspects who were in a vehicle described only as a dark-colored sedan.