Paranoid HEB Employee Shoots and Kills Coworker Injures Others

2016 H-E-B Shooting

Back in 2016 H-E-B employee, 31-year-old Raul Lopez disrupted the loving and giving kind culture H-E-B strives to create. Back on November 28, 2016, Raul Lopez fired 19 shots into a break room at H-E-B in Hidalgo County around 3:30 am as his co-workers were eating their meals.

1 Fatally Shot 3 Injured

4 co-workers were hit by the gunfire. 48 year old, Mario Pulido was shot 9 times and died at the scene of the shooting. The three other victims, Billy Joe Martinez, Rafael Martinez, and Frailan Garza, were transported to the hospital where they fully healed from their injuries.

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Fast Forward to the 2022 Trial

Lopez walked into the courtroom where his defenses pleased his case, fighting for 'not-guilty' due to insanity. The trial lasted about 2 weeks and jurors took around 10 hours to deliberate and reach a verdict.

Defense Pushes For Insanity

Lopez's defense team pushed for insanity and claimed their Lopez suffered from schizophrenia and was unaware of his wrongdoings during the shooting. However, evidence during the trial showed Lopez had taken his 9mm Desert Eagle with two magazines and dumped them at a neighboring lot after the shooting, then called 9-1-1 on himself, indicating that he knew what he had done was wrong.

Prosecutors Stacking Proof

Prosecutors also had more stacking evidence to prove Lopez was not insane and clearly knew what he was doing. There was proof showing Lopez apologized to his wife before being arrested, showing regret and understanding of his actions.

Forensic Scientist Brought In

A forensic psychiatrist by the name of Michael R. Arambula was brought into court and revealed a few key characteristics he observed. Arambula determined Lopez displayed these disorders and traits:

paranoid personality disorder
unspecified depressive disorder
anti-social
aggressive

However, Arambula explained Lopez displayed exaggerations of his symptoms, and even more eye-opening, Arambula testified that Lopez did not suffer from schizophrenia.

Video of Lopez Sentencing

The video below shows the moment Raul Lopez was read his sentence, showing no emotion or reaction to his guilty sentence.

The Verdict

Lopez was found guilty of murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of attempted capital murder of multiple persons by a jury.