Police search for man who shot armed robber in restaurant in Houston Texas. Was the shooting justified?

 

Police are looking for the man who shot the armed robber. Fox News. 

Houston Police are searching for a man who shot and killed an armed robber in Texas. Fox News. A man with a gun came into the Ranchito #4 Taqueria and pointed a gun at customers demanding money. One of the customers and shot the man nine times. Police have not filed charges so far and say they want to talk to the man, who left the scene after the shooting, but not before giving back the victims their money. The shooter was scene on video firing one more shot into the criminals head after he was down on the ground.

Warning: the video below shows the shooting. 

Cont. pic.twitter.com/cIEynn2cyg

— Gage ♊️ (@Mr12G) January 7, 2023

My Comment: 

There is not question in my mind that morally this shooting was justified. The criminal pointed his gun at people and robbed them and was a threat to everyone in that restaurant. I have no problem with him getting shot and killed, that's a solution, not a problem. The criminal put everyone's live at risk and was stealing from regular working folks who probably needed their money. I'm not sad that he's dead. 

But I think this shooter might end up in legal trouble for what he did. First of all, he left the scene which is never a good idea in a self defense situation. You don't need to talk to the cops, indeed, I'd recommend invoking your right to remain silent in this kind of situation, but fleeing the scene is not a good move. A jury could see that as evidence of guilt and neither the police or the prosecutors are going to be impressed by it. 

Texas has very strong self defense laws. There is no duty to retreat there, but I don't think it would be that relevant regardless since the shooter had nowhere to go. The shooter could easily argue that he felt threatened by the robber and could also argue that he was defending not only his life but the life of others. Indeed, if that is all that happened I think this would have been an obviously justified shooting legally. 

The problem is that last shot. That sure looked like a coup de grâce, a finishing blow to kill an injured man. That obviously causes some problems for the shooter. The criminal no longer had the gun and didn't seem like he was a threat anymore. It's possible he was reaching for the gun but the shooter had already grabbed it away from him. 

It's possible the criminal was already dead at that point (and it sure looked like he either was or was close to it to me) and that raises interesting legal questions. Is it a crime to kill someone who is already dead? I am not sure. It reminds me of the old scenario in my criminal justice classes, is it a crime to shoot someone who just jumped off a 10 story building? The answer was yes, but does it change if the guy was already dead? That's for a lawyer to answer I guess. 

My gut tells me this guy gets charged. This was Houston after all, and even in Texas I don't think you can kill someone who isn't a threat. That last shot doesn't seem justified legally in my mind, though I certainly don't mind it from a moral sense. He made some serious mistakes and leaving the scene will not help him either.