HOUSTON – A 19-year-old Houston-area Taco Cabana employee has been charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm and tampering with evidence after he allegedly shot himself on accident.
Houston police got called to the Taco Cabana at 700 North Loop West on Jan. 14 for a shooting in progress.
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When they arrived, the teen employee was bloody and had an apparent gunshot wound to his private area, records show. He had to be transported to the hospital.
The teen told investigators that he was sitting inside the Taco Cabana kitchen area on his break with the firearm in his pants and it suddenly went off, according to court records. He then told investigators he didn’t know where the firearm was located and wouldn’t tell them where he put it.
Another employee at the restaurant told police she heard a loud noise that sounded like a firework, then noticed the teen suspect “stand up quickly and jump up and down frantically,” according to court records.
They called for an ambulance while he continued jumping around and ran to the men’s bathroom, then out the back door of the restaurant, and later returned, records show.
Prosecutors accepted the unlawful carry charge because he was under 21 years old, according to records.
At the time of accidentally shooting himself, records show he was on 13 months of probation, ordered in August of 2025, for a different unlawful carrying of a weapon charge. He was also charged with unlawful carry in February of 2024 but records show the case got dismissed after he completed a pretrial diversion program.