HOUSTON – A HEB store on San Felipe temporarily closed after a man showed up at the store and pointed a gun at a security guard. Police say the suspect is now in custody.
Houston police confirm units responded after receiving multiple calls about a suspicious person at the HEB at 5895 San Felipe Street. The first call came in at 5:41 p.m.
We are told that employees moved shoppers to the back of the store. Reality with Raya Podcaster, Raya Hensler, documented the moments.
“Was coming to get a few snacks for me and my friend. We were gonna do a girls night and Rachel and Franklin, the amazing managers of HEB, were like shutting the doors and I was like, oh, are you closing early? Like what’s going on? And they were like, no, get in. There’s a gunman in the parking lot. You’re in or you’re out. And I was, okay,” Hensler said.
Houston police provided more details on the incident and said the suspect is a former employee who was fired about five years ago. Police said he comes up to the store every week or two and bothers the employees. He has also been trespassed upon by the store before.
“What happens is this is a private establishment. So if the management doesn’t want somebody on their property, they can do a trespass affidavit. Of course, HPD can enforce that. So if we come out here and we trespass on somebody and tell them, hey, you cannot come back to the property, and they do come back, that’s when they get charged,” a HPD Sergeant at the scene said.
HPD said Tuesday that he walked up to the store and pointed a gun at the security guard before leaving the store. Shortly before 9 p.m., HPD told KPRC 2 the suspect had been taken into custody.
Court documents identified the suspect as 27-year-old Hunter Molina. He has been charged with aggravated assault on a security guard.
Police said no one was hurt in the incident.
A spokesperson for HEB says they have decided to temporarily close the store.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we closed the store to make sure that it was safe. The store has now reopened,” the statement from the spokesperson said.
Hensler praised the quick actions of the HEB employees.
“Really grateful for the action that they took quickly, didn’t skip a beat,” she said.