Concealed Carry Holder Ends Threat in Texas Restaurant Shooting

A patron of an Arlington, Texas, restaurant who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun pulled his weapon and shot a gunman who had just killed the store manager. The assailant and manager died from their wounds at the scene.

Arlington Police Public Information Officer Lt. Christopher Cook told reporters at a press conference Wednesday evening that a gunman entered the Zona Caliente Sports Bar and got into an argument with the manager. He then pulled a gun and shot and killed the manager, WFAA ABC8 reported.

Police identified the deceased managers as Cesar Perez, 37. They also identified the shooter as James Jones, 48.

A customer inside the restaurant pulled a concealed weapon and shot Jones, according to police.

Perez and Jones got into an argument over an unknown issue at one end of the bar. “There was some type of altercation, things being said, and this man pulled out a gun and shot the employee and killed the employee,” Lt. Cook told reporters.

The unidentified restaurant patron is licensed to carry a concealed handgun and will not face any charges in related to his killing the shooter, Cook explained. He was sitting with his wife at the other end of the bar from where the argument took place. “He made the decision to engage the shooter, fearing there would be other loss of life,” he said.

The motivation for the shooting has not been reported at this time. It is also not known if the shooter and manager knew each other before Wednesday evening’s shooting incident.

NBCDFW reported that another customer inside the restaurant also sustained an injury. No other information on that customer is available at this time.

Texas law allows a licensed gun owner to carry a concealed handgun in a restaurant/bar that makes less than 51 percent of its income from liquor sales.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional information.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.