HOUSTON, TX (via KHOU.com) March 25, 2016 – The police cars and tape outside a Family Dollar store painted an all-too familiar picture Friday morning.
A 25-year-old store clerk fatally shot a suspected robber inside his store, Houston police confirmed.
It happened around 9:30 a.m. Friday at 8624 W. Montgomery Road.
Police said it wasn’t immediately clear if the masked suspect was armed.
The other workers ran to the back of the store when he came in.
“I left the back room to see if he was OK, see where he was at,” Ivan Sanchez said. “And when I left the back room, and when I go out there, I see him with the robber and the robber was already lying on the floor.”
A family member tells KHOU 11 News that the clerk had a license to carry his weapon.
“This place has been robbed several times,” the clerk’s uncle said. “Right before Thanksgiving, they robbed him and even after he gave them everything, they still hit with him the gun.”
Regular customers were glad to hear that the clerk wasn’t hurt.
“He just smiles and says, ‘How you doing?'” Shalondra Peavy said. “Very soft-spoken, so I know he’s not a killer, but he is a survivor.”
“I want people to know that my co-worker is an outstanding guy,” Sanchez said.
The case will be turned over to a grand jury to decide if any charges will be filed.