Off-duty officer killed in shooting at restaurant

Houston police are searching for two suspects Saturday evening after a shooting at a Galleria-area restaurant critically injured one person and killed an off-duty

New Orleans police officer.

Authorities responded around 5:17 p.m. to The Grotto Ristorante at 4715 Westheimer just inside the 610 West Loop.

A family visiting from New Orleans had been sitting on the patio enjoying dinner when two suspects approached them from the side, demanding articles on their person, Police Chief Troy Finner said.

Everybody complied, yet one of the suspects fired his weapon, shooting two people, according to the chief.

The gunmen fled. One is a male wearing a black hoodie and black pants, and the other is a male wearing a white hoodie and black pants, according to the chief. Witnesses said they left in a gray or silver four-door Altima with paper plates.

Finner, who said he is personal friends with the New Orleans police superintendent, said he was enraged at the daylight shooting.

“I’m very upset,” he said in a news conference.