HOUSTON – Three suspects robbed a southeast Houston mobile store and killed the store's owner, police said.
A woman and two children saw the fatal shooting at the Boost Mobile store on Telephone Road and Kinney about 4:40 p.m. Monday.
Investigators say two men wearing ski masks stormed the store. While one served as lookout, the other with the gun forced everyone inside on the floor, police said. As the man was stealing money from the cash register, the store's owner, Hamid Waraich, 53, reached to push the button on a silent alarm. That's when the suspect shot Waraich in the back, investigators said.
Paramedics rushed Waraich to Memorial Hermann Hospital, but he died from his wound.
When Waraich's family received the news of his death, they were overcome with sorrow.
"All I know is he got shot. It's not fair," said stepson Victor Toscano. "For what? A couple of bucks? You got to take a life?"
Police said the two men ran to a dark grey, four-door Pontiac with paper license plates where a getaway driver was waiting. Investigators said they took off their ski masks as they left the store and left behind fingerprints.
It's also believed that the trio robbed a used car dealership on Almeda Genoa Road, which is about three miles from the mobile store, about 25 minutes before the fatal robbery.