Family remembers store owner fatally shot during robbery in NW Houston
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A convenience store owner is dead after a fatal robbery at his store in northwest Houston. Now, his family is left searching for answers.
Zia Siddiqui told his wife he was going to his Raceway gas station to catch up on paperwork.
He never returned home.
The 51-year-old businessman, who owned two Raceway stations, one of them said to be the top-performing franchise in the chain, found himself in the middle of a robbery that would cost him his life, and devastate his family.
Before 9pm Saturday, police say a man in his 20's, wearing a red baseball cap and a hooded sweatshirt, walked in, and began walking up and down the aisles.
"He picked up a Mountain Dew, then walked up to the clerk and put a gun in his face," HPD Homicide Sgt. Brian Harris said.
Security video shows the clerk running away. At that point, Siddiqui emerged from his office, with a gun in hand. He tried to push the suspect behind a door. There was a struggle and shots were fired. Siddiqui was fatally wounded, and died on the floor of his store. It's believed he also wounded the robber.
From outside the store, Eric McCloud said he heard as many as six shots. Then he saw the suspect run out, disappearing into a field behind the business.
"If you're that hard up, why don't you get a bucket and ask for money instead of taking a life?" McCloud said.
Siddiqqui's family is in shock over the loss of a man they loved.
"He was living the American dream," said Sadeem Hassan, his son-in-law. "He was awaiting the birth of his first grandchild. He was taken before he could ever see her."
Siddiqui was born in Pakistan and came to the United States as a young man. He saved money, bought a small gas station and began adding to his businesses.
"He was the happiest man ever. If you were stressed, he would ask 'how can I help,' don't worry about things," he added.
In the end, the robber took nothing except a life. He left the Mountain Dew he'd taken when he walked in to the store on the counter.
The family said if the robber was wounded, someone knows who he is, and he may go to an emergency room for medical treatment.
"We want him caught," Hassan said. "We want him brought to justice, because he's turned our family upside down."
Funeral services will be held Monday.
