Harris County Bar Shooting: Customer Fatally Shoots Two Men, Stops Robbery
A bar shooting in Harris County early Saturday was apparently like a scene straight out of a movie. When four men attempted to rob the establishment, a customer rose to the occasion and began shooting the would-be robbers.
Bar owner Jenny O’Donnell called the customer a hero. O’Donnell wasn’t present at the time of the shooting, but the actions and risk the customer took to defend the business were enough to send the remaining robbers running for their lives.
Four armed men had walked into EJ’s Place in the 16400 block of Kuykendall at Colwell around 2:30 a.m. and quickly instructed everybody to get on the floor. Two of the men had stayed at the door to stand guard, probably in case anyone tried to escape. Ironically, it was the robbers who ended up trying to escape, according to Homicide Sergeant Robert Spurgeon.
One of the bar patrons wasn’t okay with the situation as he took out his own gun and turned it on the intruders. The identity of the bar shooting patron is still unknown.
Two of the attempted robbers never left the parking lot alive. One fell dead right outside the front door, and the other made it to the edge of the parking lot and no further. The other two fled the bar, but the heroic patron gave pursuit.
Police are still looking for the remaining robbers, and the man who shot their partners and chased them off. It is unknown exactly what the customer’s intentions were or if he’ll end up facing charges for vigilantism.
The scene was caught on camera, says Jenny O’Donnell, who is cooperating fully in the investigation.
“That man was a hero. We could have had some bodies.”
The Houston Police might not see it the same way, of course. Vigilantes are still criminals, even though they tend to be glorified in movies and TV shows regularly. Despite stopping a robbery, the bar shooting may have earned the hero some jail time alongside the men he pursued.
Bar owner calls customer hero for fatally shooting 2 robbers http://t.co/J3H3asGbMX @THETXEMBASSY @mjgranger1 @LeahR77 @A5H0KA @AZWS @2ANow
— Bobo from Texas (@BoboFromTexas) October 5, 2014
While the man’s actions could have simply been out of pure heroism, police are likely taking into account other possibilities. His actions could have been part of a secret vendetta or he may have simply been drunk and thought himself an action hero.
Deputies believe the halted robbers may have been responsible for a series of holdups in the Harris County area.
Do you agree with the bar owner that the customer’s actions made him a hero? Could the police end up arresting him anyway, with the bar shooting being a form of vigilantism?
[image via Your Houston News, ABC 13]
