HOUSTON – A SWAT scene is over after an argument between two men ended in a shooting in the Alief area.
According to police, the incident happened around 1 a.m. Tuesday at the Saigon Nho Café near Bellaire Boulevard and Cook Road.
Police found the gunman in the upstairs area of a game room adjacent to the café where they confirmed he had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
“Once our SWAT team made the entry, they shot him with pepper balls to see if any movement," said Police Chief Art Acevedo. "There was no movement. Suspecting that he might be dead or unconscious, they then moved into the attic space, found him. He appeared deceased.”
Police said one of the men had come to the establishment Monday but had been refused entry for carrying a weapon. The man left and later returned and fired multiple shots into the location after an argument.
During the altercation, one the employees was grazed in the head by a bullet but is expected to survive.
Authorities said in a news conference that when they arrived to investigate the scene, witnesses told them the gunman was hiding upstairs in a game room adjacent to the café.
“The suspect was being given commands by one of our officers to, ‘Show his hands, show his hands,’" said Acevedo. "The suspect refused to comply with the officer's commands. At one point, suddenly a shot rang out from the suspect and one HPD officer returned fire when he heard that gunshot coming from the suspect.”
Police are still working to confirm whether the man was killed from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if he was hit by the officer’s bullet.
Officers retreated and SWAT and hostage negotiators were called to the scene in an effort to ascertain the gunman’s status, police said.
Police said the gunman is an Asian man in his 20s who was angry about not being let into the establishment Monday.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo referenced the number of game rooms in the area saying they bring in a higher rate of crime and there will be a Vice investigation into the room where the gunman was found and other game rooms in the area.
Multiple people have been detained for questioning in reference to the shooting and the game rooms.