A federal jury in Houston on Thursday convicted 27-year-old Tyler John Jordan in connection with a deadly March 16, 2025, shooting inside a Katy McDonald’s that left a 61-year-old bystander dead. Jurors found Jordan guilty of possessing a machine gun after a three-day trial, and he will remain in custody while he waits to learn his sentence.
Federal verdict and penalties
The jury deliberated for roughly three hours before returning the guilty verdict on a single federal count of possession of a machine gun. Jordan now faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine, with U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett setting sentencing for June 25. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced the conviction and upcoming sentencing in an official release, and the office also shared the update on X.
The shooting and the victim
Prosecutors said the gunfire erupted on March 16, 2025, inside the McDonald’s on North Fry Road near West Little York in Katy after a confrontation between two groups. Multiple shots were fired in the crowded restaurant. A 61-year-old man, later identified as Jorge Rolando Arbaiza, was struck and airlifted to a hospital, where he died. Family members told reporters he had been buying Happy Meals for his grandchildren when the shooting broke out, and local reporting and court filings describe a dining room filled with families and children as the violence unfolded, according to the Houston Chronicle.
What jurors heard at trial
During the three-day trial, prosecutors walked jurors through surveillance footage and cellphone data that tied Jordan to the weapon. They introduced video recovered from his phone that showed him holding the pistol about five hours before it was fired inside the McDonald’s. Witnesses and crime-scene experts also testified that the Glock-style handgun had been outfitted with an illegal conversion device, often called a “switch,” that allowed it to fire automatically. Jurors ultimately rejected the defense claim that Jordan did not know the gun had been modified. Those details were laid out in the federal case record, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas.
Other arrests and the probe
The McDonald’s shooting has triggered a broader investigation and multiple arrests. Authorities say Antoine Ridge faces murder charges in state court and later picked up federal gun charges tied to the same incident, while Paul Whitley was arrested on aggravated-assault allegations connected to the brawl that preceded the gunfire. Prosecutors and local reporting say investigators from both state and federal agencies have been working together, pulling surveillance video, interviewing witnesses and combing through phone records to reconstruct who did what inside the restaurant, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Community impact and next steps
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has said it will press the federal case forward at sentencing, while local law enforcement continues to chase leads tied to the Katy restaurant shooting. The episode, along with the use of an illegal conversion “switch” on a handgun in a busy public space, has renewed local focus on modified firearms and gun violence in everyday settings. ABC13 and other outlets have reported on the conversion device and the wider investigation into who supplied the part and who handled the weapon before and during the shooting.
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