Police became aware something was wrong around 2:45am at the Blue Bell corner store on Veterans Drive. A customer entered to find no one around. Deputies tell us that person left and 911 was called.
"A customer who routinely comes in comes in or has come in on a routine bases, comes in and doesn't see the clerk who greets her most of the time," said Sgt. Felipe Rivera with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "She walked in and he was not there. She became suspicious when she didn't see him."
When deputies arrived, they found the store clerk, shot and killed behind the counter. They say the victim did have trauma to his body, but the extent of injury was not released.
People we spoke with this morning say they knew this clerk and that he was a very good person. They say he trusted everyone. Even after hours, he would unlock the store to let anyone in.
"He really just trusted too many people by coming in at night and opening the door," said one customer with whom we spoke.
Carolyn Smithers says they had known the clerk for a while. He used to work at another nearby store.
"He was a very nice man and I just pray for his family. If he had a wife and children, my heart goes out to them," said Smithers.
At this time, deputies believe robbery may have been the motive. They are now looking at surveillance cameras that were in the store that may have caught the shooting.
According to the sheriff's department, there are possibly two suspects involved in the deadly shooting. No other information regarding the suspects has been released so far. Investigators want anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers.
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