Investigators say a 42-year-old man pointed a gun at the landlord before striking him in the head with a bat.
HUFFMAN, Texas — A landlord was attacked while delivering eviction-related papers at a Huffman property, where Harris County investigators say a man threatened him with a gun and struck him in the head with a bat.
The confrontation happened Sept. 21 on Darden Drive, according to information released by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and reported by ABC13. Investigators identified the man accused in the confrontation as 42-year-old James Jackson.
Investigators said Jackson pointed a gun at the landlord and then hit him over the head with a bat. The blow left the landlord with a head wound. Authorities did not immediately release additional details about the landlord’s condition or identify him publicly in the report.
The incident began when the landlord went to the property to deliver paperwork connected to an eviction, investigators said. The publicly available account did not specify the underlying rental dispute or explain what events led up to the confrontation after the landlord arrived.
The report also did not provide a full account of Jackson’s legal status following the incident. No additional court information, charging details or scheduled proceeding was confirmed in the material reviewed for this story.
The Huffman case comes as confrontations involving rental disputes have drawn attention elsewhere in the Houston area. Earlier in September, authorities said two employees at a west Houston apartment complex were killed by a tenant following a dispute involving his lease. The circumstances of that case were separate from the Huffman incident.
Rental-property owner Justin Singer, who has managed properties for more than a decade, told ABC13 that serious confrontations are uncommon in his experience but can be unsettling when they happen. He recalled a previous eviction in which a law enforcement officer accompanying him drew a weapon while dealing with a belligerent occupant.
Texas law sets out several methods for delivering a notice required before certain eviction suits are filed. Those methods include mail, delivery inside the premises in a conspicuous place and hand delivery to a tenant who is at least 16 years old. Electronic communication, including email, can also be used when the parties have agreed to that method in writing.
The law does not mean every landlord-tenant dispute follows the same path. The required notice period can depend on the lease and circumstances, and a notice to vacate is distinct from a court judgment ordering a tenant’s removal.
Authorities had not publicly detailed what happened immediately after the Sept. 21 confrontation or announced additional investigative findings in the reports available Wednesday. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office remained the agency identified as investigating the Huffman incident.
Author note: Last updated September 30, 2026.