The accident happened around 10pm on Force at Nadolney.
"All I heard was my sisters and my dad screaming, and I woke up to that," said a woman who asked not to be identified.
The woman says she and her family walked outside to find a black Chrysler 300 had slammed into their home on Force Street, and the driver was in bad shape.
"We were trying to make him stay up until the paramedics got here," she said. "All we did was ask him, are you ok? And he just nodded and said no."
When paramedics got to the scene, they pronounced the man, identified as Chad Bowden, dead.
"He was a loving, kind person," his mother, Gwen Bowden said.
"He was the only child, so he wanted to give a whole lot back, so that's why he was so unselfish," his father, Charles Bowden, added.
Sgt. Ben Beall with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said paramedics started to treat Bowden but realized that he had been shot and was dead at the scene.
"I just hope it ain't nothing senseless, like trying to take his car, you know, the senseless taking of a guy's life like that," Charles Bowden said.
Witnesses told detectives with that the black Chrysler had come up to the four-way stop at Nadolney and Force at the same time as another car at around 10pm Thursday. Both cars reportedly flashed their headlights, but when the other car started to cross, the Chrysler rammed into it, pushing it down the street. The Chrysler then crashed into the house.
"At this point we don't know if he had already suffered the gunshot wound or if perhaps someone may have been in the car with him who fled unseen prior to EMS arriving," Sgt. Beall said.
Bowden's mom says he had no enemies.
"Chad, my son, was a born-again Christian. He knew Jesus Christ. His soul was saved so he was trying to help other people come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That was his mission," Gwen Bowden said.
Bowden's parents say it's possible he was returning home after one of his normal late-evening runs before he was killed.
"Whoever killed Chad, we don't know but God knows. AndI have a forgiveness for the person who did shoot my son, and I pray that that person does come to know Jesus as well too," Gwen Bowden said.
Detectives are still trying to unravel the murder mystery, and the family inside the home is left with the jarring images of a man fighting for his life.
"Regardless of how it happened, we feel very sorry for this person and that he had to die," said the woman who lives in the home.
The woman driving the other car that the man crashed into did complain of some chest pains. She was taken to the hospital to get checked out.
As for the investigation, detectives don't have a lot to go on, and are asking anyone with information about the shooting to give them a call.
Bowden, 30, was a physical education and health teacher at Pleasantville Elementary since 2008. His parents say they'll remember his passion for helping his students and mentoring youth in the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, HISD has sent backup teachers and grief counselors to the school.
