A man in his 30s was shot in the torso and leg outside a Southwest Houston seafood restaurant late Saturday after an intoxicated patron, reportedly turned away by staff, allegedly walked back to his car, grabbed a gun, and opened fire toward the building. The victim is expected to survive and was not believed to be the intended target, according to police.
Argument Inside Turns Into Gunfire in the Parking Lot
The shooting happened shortly before 11:30 p.m. Saturday at Mariscos 713, located at 9612 Beechnut Street near Corporate Drive, according to a Facebook post from an HPD officer account. Per that account, security and the restaurant’s owner had asked an intoxicated man and his nephew to leave after they became disruptive, which is when the man allegedly walked to his vehicle, retrieved a firearm, and fired back toward the restaurant. As Click2Houston reports, the gunfire struck a man in his 30s, who was hospitalized after being hit in the torso and leg.
Investigators said the wounded man was not believed to be the suspect’s intended target. Houston police have identified the suspect, who is believed to be in his 50s, but no arrests had been made as of the report. The investigation remains ongoing, per the same report.
Not the First Deadly Encounter at This Address
This is not the first time gunfire tied to alcohol has erupted at Mariscos 713. In September 2023, an intoxicated patron, 42-year-old Luis Roberto Molina Cruz, fatally shot 42-year-old Paul Farías outside the restaurant following an argument, according to Univision. Mariscos 713 operates as a seafood restaurant and sports bar with live entertainment, staying open daily until 2 a.m., according to FANZO.
The stretch of Beechnut Street near Corporate Drive has seen other recent tragedy. Just three days before the shooting, on September 2, a 30-year-old male pedestrian was fatally struck by a pickup truck near that same intersection around 11:10 p.m., according to the City of Houston.
What Charges Could the Suspect Face
Texas law carries steep exposure for a suspect in this scenario. Carrying a handgun while intoxicated in a public area is a Class A misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 46.02(a-6), punishable by up to a year in county jail and fines as high as $4,000, according to the Law Office of RJ Harber. Discharging a firearm at or near a building and wounding a bystander, meanwhile, is typically prosecuted as Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon — a second-degree felony under Texas Penal Code § 22.02 that carries 2 to 20 years in state prison and up to a $10,000 fine, per Flatiron Legal Advisors.
There’s also the question of whether the suspect should have had a firearm inside the restaurant at all. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission rules and Penal Code § 46.03 bar carrying firearms into so-called “51% establishments” that draw the majority of their revenue from on-premises alcohol sales, making unauthorized carry inside such venues a felony, according to Deandra Grant Law.
A Patch of Southwest Houston Under Scrutiny
The 9600 block of Beechnut Street falls within HPD’s Southwest Patrol Division, headquartered at 13097 Nitida Street and responsible for a 52-square-mile area home to more than 217,000 residents, per city data. The corridor has drawn repeated Hoodline coverage of violence in recent years, including a nearby shooting on Club Creek Drive in February.
The Saturday night shooting comes even as citywide violent crime trends downward. Houston recorded 95 homicides in the first half of 2026, a 38% drop from the 154 homicides tallied over the same period in 2025, according to Axios. Still, no arrests had been reported in Saturday’s shooting, and HPD’s investigation into the incident remains active.
