A Houston restaurant patron who shot and killed a robber over a year ago has been awaiting the decision of a Texas grand jury.
Surveillance footage of the botched theft and subsequent gunshot went viral and garnered widespread media coverage. On Wednesday, the grand jury decided not to press charges against the man responsible for the January 2018 shooting death of 30-year-old Eric Eugene Washington.
According to the initial account, the Houston police stated that at about 11:30 p.m. on January 5, 2023, a masked, armed guy barged into Ranchito Taqueria on South Gessner near Bellaire Boulevard and demanded cash and wallets from the patrons. From one table to another, the thief stole money. The thief was continuing when one of the customers pulled a revolver and opened fire on him. The video shows the thief being shot numerous times, but broadcasts had frozen the CCTV footage before bullets were discharged. There were nine gunshots, according to video footage.
After shooting the thief, the customer returned the stolen money to the other customers. Surveillance footage shows the man yelling, “Come grab your money.” The footage also shows the customer furiously slamming the phony pistol against a wall after realizing it was a robber’s. The police said the thief had a plastic handgun.
No charges were filed against the 46-year-old defendant.
“Abuse” was the word used by Washington’s mother when she described the client who pulled the trigger many times last year. The matter was then submitted to a grand jury by Kim Ogg, a leftist prosecutor in Houston sponsored by George Soros. After police realized the gun was a fake plastic handgun, they solicited the public for assistance in finding the individual.
Activists swiftly demanded that the man—who officials have not named—be prosecuted for criminal charges in what they saw as an act of vigilantism after the security footage went viral on social media. Some said the guy had a right to defend himself as he felt his life was in imminent danger, while others said his actions were unjustified.
