Late Thursday evening, an armed masked man stormed into a Houston tanqueria and demanded money and valuables from the shop and its customers. One customer accessed his handy-dandy personal safety tool while the robber walked around the joint, waving a pistol and greedily grabbing loot.
When the thief passed by again, the man shot him. Repeatedly. Including five times while the suspect was motionless on the ground. He was later pronounced dead on the spot.
The masked man appears to have brought a toy gun to a robbery. According to local news reports, the weapon was a plastic airsoft gun. When the armed defender opened fire, he had no way of knowing. That was sufficient to cause a reasonable fear of death or serious bodily harm.
Here’s the complete uncut security video (with audio).
Self-defense shooting of armed robber in Houston Texas
*potentially distributing*https://t.co/GNRMXsDA1a
— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) January 7, 2023
KHOU has more:
It happened just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday at the restaurant on S. Gessner near Bellaire Boulevard.
Houston police said the armed man in a mask came inside the restaurant, demanding money and wallets from customers. However, as he was leaving, one of those customers shot the suspect.
The incident was caught on surveillance video.
The customer who shot the robber fled the scene, and the HPD wants to speak with him.
UPDATE: Surveillance photos of the male (and his vehicle) wanted for questioning in this fatal shooting of a robbery suspect last night (Jan. 5).
Know the man's ID? Call HPD Homicide 713-308-3600. He is not charged at this time.
More info at https://t.co/ldFdhIXy1g#hounews https://t.co/CIqpLEQmmM pic.twitter.com/FrL42qkjxu
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 6, 2023
Investigators said he is wanted for questioning for his role in the shooting. He has not been identified and is not charged at this time.
Oh, and it gets better.
The shooter collected the stolen money from the robber and returned it to the other patrons, police said. Then the rest of the people in the restaurant left the scene before the police arrived.
The robbery victim with the gun took the time to return the stolen money to the patrons.
On one hand, it’s generally better to call the police and stick around after a defensive gun use. On the other hand, can anyone really blame him for wanting to skip the grilling by police and prosecutors for doing the right thing to a guy who threatened peoples’ lives for a quick score of a few dollars?
With good images of the defender, he will most likely be identified. However, Houston’s district attorney will not win any friends in the community if she charges the man for defending his and everyone else’s lives in that restaurant.