Man shot and killed at Ojos Locos Cantina identified

Family members and friends are now identifying the man shot and killed early Sunday morning at a Houston bar as Javier Sanchez.

Sanchez was one of two people shot at Ojos Locos Cantina along the 15000 block of North Freeway early Sunday morning.  

According to officials from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, a security guard opened fire while trying to close the bar.  The security officer told authorities that there had been a fight.  

Cellphone video FOX 26 obtained from the incident shows chaos and confusion.

A second person shot was transported to a local hospital and is expected to survive.

Sanchez’s family was too upset to speak on camera about the incident Monday afternoon, but friends describe the victim as a loving father.

Friends believe Sanchez was in his upper twenties or low thirties.  He also played on a local soccer team called the Greenspoint Gunners.

“He was a coach,” said Luis Reyes, Sanchez’s friend.  “He just liked to help kids.”

Reyes has watched videos online of the incident believes his friend wasn’t involved in the actual fight.

“I just saw those two guys push the officer into Javi’s table,” said Reyes, referring to cellphone video.  “Javi was trying to get out of the way.  That’s when I saw the security guy pull out the gun and try to shoot.”

We interviewed a witness at the scene early Sunday morning.  According to the man, who wanted to remain anonymous, the shooting took place as he was leaving the bar.

“The security guard pulled out his gun and started telling everyone to get out of here, and was waving his gun at everybody,” said the anonymous witness.

We tried calling a possible phone number listed for the security guard for an explanation regarding what happened, but haven’t heard back.

Ojos Locos Cantina reopened on Monday.  We reached out to the restaurant’s corporate office to see if the security guard is still employed, but we never received a response.  According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office the security guard is cooperating with the investigation.  The findings of the investigation will be given to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for presentation to a grand jury.

“It’s just one of those tragedies,” said Reyes.  “[He was at the] wrong place at the wrong time.”