HOUSTON – Investigators said a customer was shot and killed inside the Conoco gas station located in the 5600 block of Aldine Bender Friday afternoon.
Witnesses told police the man had been unruly and was arguing with store clerks about the amount of change he was given. At one point, a witnesses told Channel 2 he reached across the counter.
“He was trying to grab money from the register,” said one witness, who asked not to be identified. “The guy was sticking his hands in there.”
“He was getting hostile with the store clerk and refusing to leave,” said Sgt. Robert Spurgeon, with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
An armed security guard, hired to patrol the shopping plaza, reportedly asked the man to leave, and that’s when the customer got violent.
“The man just started attacking him,” the witness said. “He was pushing him in the head and fighting him physically.”
“It was like a wrestling match,” said Michael Adams, who was inside the store when the incident occurred. “The suspect was punching him, and the security guard was trying to get some shots in. They landed on the floor and the security guard was on top but the man was punching up at him.”
Investigators said the man was trying to reach for the guard’s gun, but the guard got to it first.
Witnesses said he fired about five shots, and the last one hit the man.
He died at the scene.
His name and age have not been released.
The security guard is 42 years old. He reportedly got roughed up during the struggle and has some bumps and bruises but is expected to be OK.
The case is being referred to the grand jury.