Walmart shooting victim's son details fight; suspect still on the loose

STAFFORD, TX (KTRK) -- Police are still searching for a suspect who shot a man in front of his family in a Stafford Walmart parking lot last night. Police say a warrant is out for the arrest of the suspect, Antonio De La Cruz, 19. He is considered armed and dangerous.

It started with an argument in the store on West Airport and ended with the death of 35-year-old Christhian Eduardo Cardoza. His son tells Eyewitness News it was as if De La Cruz and two other unidentified suspects knew something bad was about to happen. He says one suspect put a bandana over his face before the deadly shooting.

"There was an altercation inside the store between some young males," said Lt. James Leedom with the Stafford Police Department. "Apparently it spilled outside the store."

That's where police say it got much worse.

According to the victim's teenage son, he and his mother were inside shopping when he got into an argument with the suspects. His mother grew concerned. The son alerted his father, Cardoza, who was waiting outside and as they left the store, they were confronted by the suspects again. With it escalating, Cardoza stepped in and that's when he was shot right in front of his wife and son. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.

Police have not said what the two men were arguing about. They are working to identify the the two other suspects who were with De La Cruz at the time of the shooting. They say the getaway car is a 1995 gray Toyota Corolla with the license plate number BRY1519.

We spoke with several people outside Walmart, including Susan Langerud, who say whatever started the argument wasn't worth the lives ruined.

"I'm not sure what happened," she said. "But it makes you kind of put your guard up."

The store was evacuated and shut down while Stafford police investigated.

If you have any information in this case, you're urged to call Detective P. Ousley at 281-261-3950 or Crime Stoppers at 281-342-TIPS.

It is not the first time there has been trouble at that Walmart location. Police were called to the store during a Black Friday sale this year. Customers were fighting over flat screen TVs. No one was arrested during that incident.