A gas station owner who was charged with killing a rival station owner during a price war in November has been murdered in Detroit.
WATCH ACTION NEWS REPORT IN VIDEO PLAYER RIGHTHassan Masbouth, 51, owner of a Marathon gas station in southwest Detroit, was scheduled to go on trial April 7 for the Nov. 17 shooting of Jawad Bazzi, 46, who owned a BP gas station across the street.
Police tell WXYZ that Masbouth was shot in the head Friday afternoon as he was leaving a home in southwest Detroit. A black SUV was seen fleeing the scene.
Masbouth, who was facing open murder charges, never denied shooting Bazzi, but contended he pulled the trigger in self defense.
The altercation in November started when Bazzi and several other men walked across the street to confront Masbouth after Masbouth lowered the price of regular gasoline at his station by three cents to $2.93 per gallon. A fight broke out and, at some point, Masbouth shot Bazzi, police said.
Bazzi was shot in the back of the head and abdomen after Masbouth was hit over the head with a pole used to change gas prices on signs at stations, according to the reports.
The two had been involved in an ongoing price war. And even the shooting did not stop the stations from continuing their fight. WXYZ's Bill Proctor reported at the time that that as soon as Bazzi's body was taken away, workers at his station changed the price-per-gallon of unleaded from $2.96 to $3.09.
