Last week we learned about this incident in Houston where a man drew a gun and fatally shot a criminal attempting to rob people in a local taqueria:
Now the shooter in question is facing possible prosecution:
A grand jury will decide whether an armed taqueria customer, who shot and killed a robber last week in southwest Houston and is now being hailed a hero, will be criminally charged.
The big question here is how many times the guy shot the perp. There were 9 rounds fired, including several after the perp seemed to be down and out of the fight. Even if 8 of those shots were lawful, if the last one wasn't, he could face criminal penalties.
(It's important to understand the application of lawful force if you're going to carry a blaster, ladies and gentlemen.)
Investigators said the 46-year-old customer, who police have not identified because he's not under arrest, turned himself in and is cooperating with detectives.
Cooperating is good. Last we heard, the guy hadn't reported the self-defense shooting to the police, which is no bueno.
This event has been very traumatic, taking a human life is something he does not take lightly and will burden him for the rest of his life.
Indeed.
Due process should be followed, but I think Matt Walsh sums up how that process should go in a just society:
As for Texas law, it's pretty clear about what constitutes legal violence:
[A] person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful force.
And the perp who was waving around the fake gun (yes, fake) to force people to give him their money certainly had a history of "unlawful force." He was out on bond when he committed this crime.
Records show that in 2015, [Eric Eugene] Washington was convicted on a lesser charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection to the shooting death of 62-year-old Hamid Waraich, a cell phone store owner. Houston police also charged two other men.
That's not all:
According to records, Washington was released on parole in 2021 and charged with assaulting his girlfriend in December 2022.
The sons of the man he helped kill also had thoughts:
Waraich had a fiancée and three sons who reacted strongly when contacted by ABC13.
"If the guy who stopped Eric was around 10 years ago, maybe I'd still have my dad," Aman Waraich, the son of the store clerk that was killed, said.
"Eric was an evil criminal that took joy in harassing and robbing innocent families. The individual at the taqueria is a true hero!" Sean Waraich, the victim's other son, added. "He did the right thing in stopping the robber and in protecting the community from a dangerous perpetrator."
