Taco truck owner shot and killed during fight with robbery suspect in southeast Houston, police say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A man in his 20s is dead after an early-morning shooting at a southeast Houston taco truck. Police said the victim, who owned the taco truck, was trying to fight off a robber.

The deadly shooting happened at 3:50 a.m. at a Chevron gas station where the taco truck was parked along the I-45 Gulf Freeway near Monroe Road.

An ABC13 crew at the scene watched as Houston police detectives went in and out of the taco truck. Police said there were three men inside at the time.

The employees were closing up for the night when a man got inside the truck and demanded money, according to HPD. All three men were reportedly held at gunpoint.

A fight broke out between the truck's owner and the robber, police said. The fight spilled outside of the truck, and that's when shots were fired.

The owner was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. The alleged robber took off on foot, heading westbound on Monroe Road, police said.

It's unclear if he actually stole anything from the truck.

One of the other employees called 911 and flagged down an officer in the area, but sadly, it was too late, HPD said.

Now, investigators are looking for surveillance video in the area.

"We're going to be canvassing the area for camera, surveillance," Det. Michael Castillo said. "It looks like there's a couple cameras both outside and inside the food truck. So right now, we're trying to view those."

Anyone with information about what happened is encouraged to contact HPD.

READ MORE: Uber driver shot by suspected car burglar who was being confronted outside SE Houston club, HPD says

Some customers leaving the club confronted the suspected burglar and tried to hold him down, but he got away. As he was running off, HPD said he fired a few shots, kept running, and then fired again.

This is the second shooting to happen in the same area in recent months. Just a few feet from the taco truck, there's a nightclub.

Back in July, an Uber driver was shot after a group confronted someone breaking into cars.

The driver survived, but the shooter got away.

For news updates, follow Charly Edsitty on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.