Customer shoots, kills armed robber at Houston restaurant

An armed robber at a Houston restaurant was fatally shot by a customer when he asked other patrons to hand over their money, authorities said.

The shooting unfolded inside Ranchito Taqueria around 11:30 p.m. Thursday when a masked suspect entered the front door, pointed a gun at customers and demanded their money and wallets, the Houston Police Department said.

Disturbing footage of the incident shows terrified customers hiding under tables as the robber, dressed in black, marched around and grabbed their belongings, which some had thrown on the floor.

As the robber goes to the door to leave, a customer sitting in a booth suddenly stands up and opens fire on the suspect with a handgun, the video shows.

The customer can then be seen shooting him four times in the back, before the robber falls to the ground.

The robber was pronounced dead at the scene and the killer along with other patrons left the restaurant.Twitter: @rawsalerts

While he is on the ground, the client gets closer and proceeds to shoot him four more times.

Then, while standing over the robber, the customer shoots him once more from a distance, the video shows.

The customer then collected the money stolen from the suspect and returned it to other customers before he and the other customers left the restaurant, according to police.

The shooting happened at Ranchito Taqueria around 11:30 p.m. Thursday.Twitter: @rawsalerts

The robbery suspect, identified only as a man believed to be in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, police said.

Now, investigators said they “want to speak to the man about his role in the shooting” and asked the public for help identifying the shooter. No charges have been brought against him.

“One of the reasons law enforcement is looking for this individual is to find out if he was in fear for his life or the lives of the people around him, because that’s absolutely essential to a claim of self-defense under the law,” KHOU said. Legal analyst Carmen Roe.

Roe said it appears to be self-defense, and even if the suspect’s gun was fake, patrons at the restaurant “clearly believed it was a real gun.”

The man continued to fire several times at the suspect even after he was on the ground. He fired a total of nine shots, the video shows.Twitter: @rawsalerts

“If you’re justified in firing the first shot, you’re justified in continuing to fire until the lethal threat is no longer there,” she said.

Roe said she would have advised the man to stay at the scene and answer police questions there, “but at the same time, you have no obligation to stay at the scene of a situation like that.”

Surveillance footage provided by police shows the attacker getting into his vehicle, described as a 1970s and 1980s model pickup truck without a bed, before driving away.