Man Commits Suicide After Restaurant Shooting Sparks Standoff

HOUSTON — An armed man who sparked a SWAT standoff after shooting at an employee inside a Vietnamese restaurant is dead after he allegedly killed himself. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo confirmed during a press conference that the alleged shooter was found dead inside a game room, adjacent to the restaurant where the shooting happened.

“We have located him. He is deceased,” Acevedo said. “He still has the pistol in his left hand, but we can’t say definitively whether he shot himself or if this was gunfire from the officer...If I had to speculate, based on my training and experience, I would say this is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The still unidentified gunman walked into the Saigon Nho Café in the 12300 block of Bellaire Blvd shortly before 1 a.m. and began arguing with one of the employees.

Acevedo said the armed suspect had been denied entry into the restaurant a day earlier because he was carrying a gun. Police said during the argument, the armed man fired his weapon inside the restaurant, grazing the employee in the head.

The employee is expected to be OK.

When officers got to the scene, they searched the restaurant and were not able to find the gunman.

“Witnesses told officers that the suspect had fled to an adjacent gameroom,” Acevedo said.

Police were not able to find the shooter inside the gameroom at first, and were told by witnesses that he was hiding upstairs, Acevedo said.

During a second search of the gameroom, a police officer saw the gunman and ordered him repeatedly to drop his weapon and surrender.

Acevedo said the gunman refused, and fired a single shot. The officer fired his weapon at the gunman.

Police thought at first that the gunman had escaped, but SWAT officers went back inside after the exchange of gunfire where they found the gunman dead.

Acevedo said he believes that the gunman was not shooting at police, but committed suicide when he was confronted by police.

Acevedo said the officer who fired his weapon is on administrative leave, per department policy, but that has he seen the video of the shooting from the officer’s body camera, that indicates policy was followed.

The shooting is under investigation.

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Image: HPD

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