Houston murder: Chevron store clerk killed on Gulf Freeway
HOUSTON - Police are in search of three suspects who are believed to be responsible for a fatal shooting at the Chevron gas station near the Gulf Freeway in south Houston.
The gas station is temporarily closed as of Wednesday morning, with several customers arriving to find it boarded up and gas pumps out of service. The identity of the shooting's victim has yet to be released by police, but many customers claim to have known the man who was shot and killed, describing him as friendly.
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"He always was a cool laid back guy, man, never harmed anybody, always laughing and smiling, he was a cool guy," Trey, a customer, said.
The sentiment was echoed by many customers who stopped by the gas station located at 8524 Gulf Freeway.
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"You see someone every day. It’s like family. I’ve been living here for eight years, and it’s just been getting tough over here lately," Linda Mack said.
"It’s a very critical situation, the crime here is much too high," Melton Silva said.
Upon arrival at the scene, Houston police discovered the store clerk dead from at least one gunshot wound.
"He was a wonderful guy. You would rate him an 11 in customer service on a scale of 1-10. Everyone is coming out here to see if it was him," Mack said.
Surveillance cameras captured one suspect in the store at around 1:30 a.m. before two others entered and began shooting.
"He was a good person. Served his customers well. I don’t know what would’ve caused them to shoot him because he was a nice guy," Silva said.
Police said the store clerk was armed at the time of the shooting, but it has not been determined if he fired back at the suspects.
"I’m hurt that this happened because he did have protection, but I guess they came on him so fast, and he just couldn’t get to it," Mack said.
"He was well respected, cool guy, and kept that fire on ‘em just in case he had to protect himself. You gotta stay 10 steps ahead that’s all I can say," Trey said.
The three suspects are still at large and police ask that anyone with information about this fatal shooting contact the Houston Police Department.