House fire overnight after shooting near scene of deadly Sunday night home invasion in Port Arthur

PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Port Arthur Police are investigating a house fire that happened around midnight on Tuesday at the same home where three people broke in and held a family at gunpoint Sunday night.

An eyewitness tells 12News a neighbor saw smoke and flames coming from the home and dialed 911. Nobody was home when the fire started. Right now, the cause is unknown.

Less than 24 hours after the scary home invasion in Port Arthur, police were back near the scene Monday evening.

According to investigators, shots were fired Monday in the 2500 block of 18th Street. On Sunday night, investigators said a 29-year-old man shot and killed one of three people holding his family at gunpoint in their own home.

That call came in around 8:30 on December 27.

Officers found Terence Ellies, 27, dead inside the home, Detective Mike Hebert said in a news release Monday morning. Justice of the Peace Tom Gilliam ordered an autopsy.

Port Arthur Police detectives found three armed men had forced their way into the house and held a family at gunpoint right after a woman who lived in the house came home, according to news releases.

The 29-year-old homeowner heard the commotion and came out of another room with a rifle to confront the robbers and protect his young children, Port Arthur Police said in news releases. He fired several shots at one of the men, who died. The other two suspects fled the area before officers arrived at the scene.

The incident is still being investigated by Port Arthur’s Criminal Investigations Division.