Robbery suspect wounded in leg in Third Ward

An employee at a Third Ward Wingstop took matters into his own hands late Tuesday, firing at a robber who nabbed cash out of the restaurant’s register.

The robber — described only as a man in his early 30s — entered the Wingstop on Scott, across the street from the University of Houston football, stadium about 11 p.m.

It wasn’t clear if he was armed. Still, in one fell swoop, he reached into his waistband, as if about to brandish a weapon, said Samuel Spurlock, an investigator with the Houston Police Department.

Customers took cover in the restaurant’s bathrooms as the robber demanded cash from the register, said Corey Martin, who had been eating at Wingstop that evening.

The robber managed to nab $350, Spurlock said. But his apparently well hatched plan ran afoul when he tried to make his escape.

As the suspect ran out of the restaurant, one Wingstop employee, who apparently had been carrying a gun all along, fired at the man, hitting him in the leg, Spurlock said. The robber was taken to an area hospital and was in stable condition.