Suspect identified in murder-suicide at Houston aquarium

Danny Cazares allegedly shot a couple as they were dining, then killed himself.

July 10, 2021, 1:20 PM

The suspect behind an apparent murder-suicide at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston has been identified as a man with a criminal history.

The shooting at Downtown Aquarium unfolded when suspect Danny Garcia Cazares, 39, walked toward Gabriel Alexander Moriones Vargas, 28 and his wife, 24, as they were eating dinner in the bar area, and opened fire around 8:10 p.m. Thursday, Houston police said.

Vargas was fatally shot and died on the scene. His wife was wounded, suffering at least one gunshot wound to the leg. She remains in stable condition at an area hospital, police said in an update Friday.

A mugshot released by the Houston Police Department shows Danny Cazares, who is accused of shooting multiple people and then himself fatally at the restaurant in the Houston Aquarium in Texas, July 8, 2021.
Houston Police Department

The couple was visiting Houston from New York, according to Houston ABC station KTRK.

After shooting the couple, Cazares turned the gun on himself and was pronounced deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

“This is a tragic, isolated incident, with no relationship between the victims and the suspect,” police said.

Two people were killed and another injured when a man opened fire on a couple and then died by suicide at Houston's Downtown Aquarium Thursday night, July 8, 2021.
KTRK

He had a previous criminal history, which includes arrests for felon in possession of a weapon and had a history of mental illness, Houston police officials said.

PHOTO: Tables and chairs sit empty at the scene of a restaurant shooting Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Houston, Texas, July 8, 2021.
Tables and chairs sit empty at the scene of a restaurant shooting Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Houston, Texas, July 8, 2021. Two men were killed and a woman was wounded in what Houston police say was a murder-suicide at a downtown seafood restaurant.
KTRK via AP

At the time of the shooting, Cazares was out on bond on three charges. They were: felon in possession of a weapon and criminal mischief, which he was charged with in April, and criminal trespassing, which he was charged with in October, according to court records.

The investigation is ongoing.