We spoke with the carjacking victim who shot and killed the robber. He and his family say they are still very shaken up. In the meantime, police are still looking for two suspects who got away.
Neighbor Gus Gomez said, "I just can't believe it happened right here at this Redbox, you know."
It may appear as business as usual outside a McDonald's on I-45 and West Little York on Wednesday, but a robbery and carjacking that ended with a deadly shooting in the parking lot Tuesday night has neighbors like Gomez on edge and watching their backs.
He said, "Just kind of got caught up thinking there is nowhere safe to go anymore. Not even to go get a movie, you know what I mean."
Police say the trouble started when a guy was trying to rent a movie from a Redbox around 9:30pm. They say two robbers got out of a green Honda and pulled a gun on the man. Detectives say the crooks took the man's cell phone and keys, got into the victim's car and started backing out.
That's when police say the car owner, who's a licensed concealed weapons carrier, pulled his own gun and started shooting the carjackers. The driver was killed. His accomplice was shot two to three times, and managed to speed from the scene with a getaway driver.
KTRK legal analyst Sarah Frazier said, "It definitely appears to fall under or potentially fall under the penal code for defense of one's property."
Frazier says it's likely a grand jury will call this a case of justifiable homicide.
"First the grand jury is going to consider whether the gentleman was in lawful possession of the property, and from everything we know, he was," she explained. "And whether force was being used against him and it appears so."
Frazier says the jury will also consider whether deadly force was necessary to avoid his own death or harm.
Houston police are checking local hospitals for anyone who may show up with bullet injuries. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the robbers or their dark green Honda Civic to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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