DETROIT (WXYZ) — A 47-year-old gas station attendant is recovering after being shot while confronting two shoplifters at a Detroit Citgo. Police have two suspects in custody.
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Detroit police say the attendant, identified only as Chris, was shot in the abdomen Saturday evening after confronting two masked suspects attempting to shoplift inside the Citgo on Joy Road near Trinity. Investigators say Chris chased the men outside, where a fight broke out that quickly escalated to gunfire. He was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and is now stable.
Regulars at the gas station say the violence has shaken the neighborhood, in part because of the kind of person Chris is to the community.
"Like if you come up here, you're short on some change, a couple of cents or whatever, he'll give it to you as long as you come back with the change when you say you're gonna come back with it," DeShawn Campbell said.
Joseph Fielder said the news hit close to home.
"It shocked me and it hurt me, didn't know that something that heinous would happen just outside my door, more or less," Fielder said.
Fielder said he is relieved Chris survived but knows the road ahead will be hard.
"I was told he's doing better, he may survive this incident. He's got a long road to go because he was shot in the abdomen," Fielder said.
Fielder described Chris as someone who never showed a bad side.
"Just such a great guy. I've never seen anything bad, he never displayed attitude or anything," Fielder said.
Kim Hines said she was inside the store just minutes before the shooting.
"I was just in the store 15 minutes before it happened. It happened at 6:30 pm. I was just in here like 6:18 pm. I could have been. I could have been," Hines said.
Hines said the attack was heartbreaking, but questioned the decision to give chase.
"They must ... didn't know him, and apparently they didn't have good intentions in the first place... it's really heartbreaking," Hines said.
"But I couldn't believe that he came out, chased them people to fight them. Sometimes you just gotta let them go with whatever it was they took," Hines said.
With the suspects in custody, Detroit police are finalizing their investigation before forwarding the case to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for charging decisions.
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