DETROIT (WXYZ) — A gas station clerk is in jail after Detroit police say he shot and killed an alleged shoplifter. As a result, investigators say they discovered the business was operating illegally.
So, the chief shut it down.
Hours after shutting the business down, someone came and ransacked the inside of the gas station on Vernor Highway.
The deadly shooting happened early in the morning around 3:15 a.m.
Chief James White explained, “The customer, allegedly, was stealing items out of the store. He leaves the store. We don’t know yet if the door was locked behind him, and he tried to come back in. But we know he had exited (and) attempted to come back in at some point. One shot was fired by the store employee.”
According to a source with DPD, the 25-year-old alleged shoplifter tried to scare the clerk. The clerk fired through the glass door and killed the man.
“The employee has been arrested," the chief said.
Regular customers continued to show up and were unaware of the closure and the shooting.
Hector Guiterrez said, “That actually kind of surprises me here because a lot of locals go to this spot, and they’re actually pretty cool with the owners.”
Another customer, Shae Adams said, “I’m like, 'The clerk?' I speak to all the clerks. I don’t know which clerk did it. So, I’m like ‘wow’ for it to lead to all of that.”
White shut the business down for operating without a business license. You may recall, the chief shut down another gas station a month ago over on McNichols near the Lodge for also operating without a license.
That license issue also came to light after a deadly shooting. In that incident, police say a clerk locked the door on an alleged shoplifter. The suspect then shot several people and killed one of them.
“Some have wondered, 'Why are you looking at the licenses?' Because we can and we should, because if you’re going to be serving our community, you should be doing so legitimately," White explained.
7 Action News spoke to a gas station manager briefly. He didn't want to go on camera, but he gave his condolences to the family and said he was headed downtown to take care of the license issue.
