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Luby's Cafeteria

Highway 190
Killeen, Texas
Class IV - Distress Condition, Crime Scene

Luby's Cafeteria

In October of 1991, a man drove his truck through the window of a cafeteria-style restaurant called Luby's, murdered 23 innocent people, then turned the gun on himself.

In spite of the tragedy, the City of Killeen petitioned Luby's to not abandon the site, but rather to re-open the facility. The restaurant management extensively remodeled the property, and approximately six to eight months later reopened the restaurant. Today the restaurant enjoys "business as usual". According to a company spokesperson, the key to this situation was that they were not focused on stock values, but on how they could genuinely help the community. The company's CEO Pete Erben flew to the site within hours of the incident and immediately put $100,000 towards assisting the victims and their families. Luby's management indicated that they have no intention of selling the property. While there is no memorial on the site, there is a memorial commemorating those who died in this incident at a nearby community center.