HOUSTON – A man is in police custody Monday night after barricading himself inside a Wendy's with a gun in southeast Houston.
Brandon Ortez, 22, is charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
The shooting happened about 8:40 p.m. Monday in the 10000 block of Almeda Genoa Road.
Houston Police Department officers responded to a shooting after a man ran into the restaurant with a gun and started firing shots, police said.
Police said they believed the man was attempting to rob the Wendy's, but employees ran out the door in time and called police.
When police arrived on the scene, they said the man shot blank fires into the air and the restaurant into another building, barricading himself inside an abandoned bank he went into. Police said the man attempted to shoot himself by pointing the gun towards his head, but ran out of bullets.
That is when police sent in K-9s to get him. Cortez was arrested and identified. His gun and cash were recovered.
During the incident, police said an officer accidently fired a shot gun, which grazed another officer when the bullet ricocheted. Another officer on the scene was bitten by one of their K-9s after the dog was frightened by gunfire.
Both officers were transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
The case is being investigated by HPD Homicide and Internal Affairs divisions, as well as the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which is standard operating procedure when and HPD officer fires a weapon and causes injury.