A Houston grocery run with a dog turned into a terrifying shootout Friday night, leaving a customer and a security guard fighting for their lives as people nearby ran for the kitchen of a restaurant to escape the bullets.
By about 8 p.m., the customer, 20, his girlfriend and their dog had reached Great Wall Supermarket in Houston’s Chinatown area, police told KHOU11.
Their attempt to shop with the dog ended at the front of the store, where a security guard enforced the supermarket’s health policy and kept the animal out. Within moments, the fight at the doorway had turned into gunfire.
KHOU11 reported that the customer pulled his gun during the confrontation. The security guard then drew his own weapon, turning the entrance dispute into an exchange of bullets.
A woman at a neighboring business gave KHOU11 the sound of the shooting as it unfolded from next door: a brief argument, then five or six loud shots.
The gunfire sent people at Juicy Box, a restaurant near the supermarket, racing away from the front of the business. Video obtained by FOX 26 captured the scramble toward the kitchen as customers and workers tried to get out of the line of fire.
Claire Pec Sapon was in the back of Juicy Box with her manager when the kitchen suddenly filled with roughly 20 people trying to get away from the shooting.
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“All I hear is run, run, run,” Sapon recalled. “I was scared, honestly. I was thinking about calling my loved ones, thinking what was the next step to do.”
Lesly Cux-Saso followed the crowd outside after seeing 15 to 20 people head for the rear of the restaurant while the shots were still audible.
“In my head, like, this can’t be happening,” Cux-Saso remembered. “You could still hear the gunshots as we went outside. I was scared. I didn’t know how to feel.”
Houston Police Department Lt. Larry Crowson was already at Great Wall Supermarket on a disturbance call when the store entrance erupted in gunfire.
The customer was wounded and got away from the immediate scene before officers caught up with him, police told KHOU11.
He and the security guard were both critically injured, taken to a hospital and put through surgery Friday night, according to KHOU11.
The man’s girlfriend remained at the scene with the dog after the shooting. Officers said neither was injured.
Investigators were working through surveillance video from the supermarket as they tried to determine how the dog dispute turned into gunfire at the entrance.
The Great Wall Supermarket shooting added another violent grocery-store scene to the Houston area within months.
A July shooting at a Kroger in Cypress, just outside Houston, left two men critically wounded and brought deputies from the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office to the store around 3 p.m. for an active-shooter response.
The constable’s office later put out an update saying a possible suspect had been detained and was receiving medical treatment.
“The shooting suspect has been detained and is currently receiving medical treatment at a local hospital,” the office stated.
The office also said witnesses had described the gunman as a Black male in a yellow shirt and black pants who fired inside the store.
“Investigators are responding to the scene and will continue processing evidence as the investigation remains active,” the constable’s office noted.
Fox 26 reported that one injured man got out of the Kroger with a single gunshot wound as law enforcement reached the scene, then was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.
Inside the store, responders found a second man with multiple gunshot wounds, and he was also flown to a hospital in critical condition, according to the outlet.
Constable Mark Herman later identified the suspect as one of the two injured men, saying he had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. The victim shot by the suspect was in serious condition and taken by Life Flight.
“Appropriate charges will be filed upon completion of the investigation,” the update stated.
Another supermarket dispute turned into police gunfire in April, this time at a Manhattan market where a 53-year-old man allegedly returned with a 13-inch kitchen knife.
The New York case began shortly after 1 a.m. at City Fresh Market on East 120th Street and Third Avenue, where the 53-year-old was accused of arguing with another person inside the store.
Employees removed him from the market after police described him as irate and disorderly.
He later came back to the storefront with a large kitchen knife and began banging on the window, police told reporters.
Store video captured the man yelling at the glass with the 13-inch blade in his hand.
Employees locked the door and called 911 shortly after 1:30 a.m.
Inspector Andrew Natiw, executive officer of the Patrol Bureau of Manhattan North, used the morning news conference to describe the episode as another example of what officers can face on duty.
“Once again, we are reminded of the dangers that our officers confront every time they put on their uniform. And this morning was no different,” Natiw told reporters.
The first officers to reach the storefront gave repeated commands for the man to drop the knife, but he moved toward them with the blade extended, police said.
One officer shot him, then called for EMS and began giving aid, according to police. The 53-year-old had prior arrests and was known to law enforcement, the NYPD said.
