A Texas steak house briefly turned into a scene out of “Road House” when, according to police, a server fired gunshots into the air after allegedly being attacked by at least one angry customer.
An incensed customer who was angry about his meal allegedly sparked the brief chaos at San Antonio’s Little Red Barn Steakhouse Wednesday afternoon, witnesses said.
“He was the one that threw the first punch,” witness Crystal Halliday, 28, told News 4 San Antonio of the customer. “He was a larger man, so he was on top of the waiter, beating him up pretty bad. I believe he also hit him with a computer that was there at the hostess stand.”
“The customers mentioned that he messed up their order,” another witness told KENS 5 News, “so when the waiter went to the side to step back, one of the customers got loose and started beating on the waiter.”
Police said the server was able to free himself. He then brandished a handgun and fired several rounds into the ceiling.
“Nobody got shot, hurt or died,” a manager at the restaurant, who asked not to be named, told The Huffington Post Thursday.
“From my understanding, [our employee] was being attacked and I don’t know if they were trying to kill him but he did not point the gun at them, he just fired at the ceiling to get them off him,” she said.
Company policy prohibits employees from carrying weapons while on the floor, she said. The manager declined to say whether the employee will face repercussions for his actions and declined to comment further.
Both the customer and the waiter fled the scene just prior to the police arriving. There have been no arrests as of Thursday morning, a police spokeswoman told HuffPost.
The customer could face an assault charge for the debacle while the waiter could face a charge of unlawful carry of a weapon, a police spokesman told the Houston Chronicle.
This story has been updated to include the possible charges the two individuals could face.
