Harris County Grand Jury Declines to Indict Hero Customer Who Shot Taqueria Robber

A Harris County grand jury has declined to file charges against a man who shot and killed a robber who was believed to have been armed during a taqueria heist in southwest Houston in 2023.

According to District Attorney Kim Ogg, jurors "no billed" the shooter, who was a customer at the El Ranchito restaurant on South Gessner on Jan. 5, 2023, when 30-year-old Eric Eugene Washington entered the restaurant and robbed several customers. The shooting was captured on security video.

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"The law of self-defense, as broad as it is in Texas, is only as good as the officials who apply it," [Houston criminal defense attorney Sean Buckley] told Fox News Digital. "There's no need for a grand jury here. These prosecutors could easily make a determination on their own."

"This was clearly self-defense or otherwise a justifiable use of deadly force and they should make that decision and not pass the buck."

Buckley says the decision to send the case to a grand jury, in his opinion, is an example of prosecutors "undervaluing" citizens' rights to defend themselves.

"Particularly when you have a liberal progressive administration like the one in Harris County, you have people who are second guessing the legislature's rules and applying them in the way that they see fit, according to their individual philosophies."

"Deadly force is permissible to prevent an armed robbery, which was still ongoing. I think what's important to keep in mind is that just because this armed robber was heading out of the restaurant did not mean that the threat was over."

Buckley said armed robbers in Houston will oftentimes shoot people indiscriminately and for no reason at all and that the threat was "still alive" since the aggravated robbery was still in progress as the robber walked out with the customers' money.