Parents demand accountability after son killed in restaurant shooting

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]It has been just under 2 weeks since a fight inside a restaurant in Northeast Travis County escalated to gunfire injuring multiple people and killing 27-year-old Michael Jones. Now Jones' loved ones are suing arguing that Down South Cajun Eats did not have ample security. KVUE's Jessica Cha spoke with Michael's mother and the family's attorney about what they hope this lawsuit does. Jessica? Yeah, Mark.

[00:00:24]Jones' family says they still haven't been able to wrap their heads around Michael being gone, but they say they want people to know that Michael was more than a shooting victim. He's a father, a son, a friend, and was just a bystander. And they want answers.

[00:00:40]COME ON, MIKE. TO match his 6'4" stature, Michael Jones' mother says his personality was larger than life.

[00:00:48]>> Anything Any sport that had to do with a ball, he was playing it. And she says he had an even bigger heart. He was a family man.

[00:00:57]He loved his family. He loved his kids.

[00:00:59]That That was his everything. In the very early morning of May 6th during a late-night family hangout, Hartman says Michael went to pick up some food from Down South Cajun Eats.

[00:01:09]>> He placed his order. He left the house to go pick up his order, and that was the last time I saw my son.

[00:01:17]According to Austin police, just before 2:00 a.m., a fight broke out inside the restaurant during a Cinco de Mayo event, and then someone started shooting. And it all spilled outside where Michael was shot and killed. He was supposed to come home to his children. He had He had promised Daddy be right back. I'm just going to get my food.

[00:01:39]And never come back.

[00:01:41]And Michael's family says they want answers. We are in the process of filing a lawsuit against the location of Down South Cajun Eats as well as the property owners on which that business resides.

[00:01:51]Rob Ranco represents Michael's family and says the restaurant wasn't scheduled to open on Cinco and Myer. Cajun Eats is typically closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. They publicized it through their social media. They had $2 tequila shots, $2 margaritas, $2 beers, and they invited everybody to come to their premises for this all-night party. The shooting happened around 1:30 in the morning.

[00:02:13]This was a nightclub. In a statement that the owners of the restaurant released the afternoon after the shooting, they said they had security on site during the event. But Ranko says there's not much proof of that. We know that there was posted on the property a sign that says no firearms or weapons allowed on the property. They did nothing to enforce that policy. And Ranko says he hopes the lawsuit leads to some answers for Michael's family because they say they're lost without him.

[00:02:41]We deserve answers. His children deserve answers.

[00:02:46]We reached out to Cajun Eats for a response to this new lawsuit. And in in an email, the owners told me that they will reserve all comments until after the investigation into the shooting is completed. In the studio, Jessica Cha, KABB News.