First on My Ballard: A man wearing a bandana over his face shot and killed a clerk at the 76 Station and “Pit Stop” on 15th Ave. this morning, police say. The employee suffered gunshot wounds to the stomach and thigh, and he died a short time later — the first murder in Ballard since March of last year. The suspect is at large. (See photos and a description of the suspect.)
Police say they received a 911 call at 6:30 a.m. after “witnesses saw the suspect in the store with a bandana over his face.” When officers arrived, they discovered a man in his 40s with life-threatening injuries.
When we arrived several minutes later, medics were working on the victim inside the ambulance as police cordoned off the area. Officers also cordoned off a section of the Ballard Dental Clinic across 58th St., including the parking lot.
Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators arrived soon thereafter, processing evidence inside the convenience store. The owner of the “Pit Stop” briefly spoke to the media at the scene. “Everybody knows him,” Bobby Sanger said of the victim, wiping away tears. “He worked here ten years. Everybody in the neighborhood knows him.” Many My Ballard readers in comments (below) say they knew him as well. “I can’t believe this!” says J. “I’d walk down to the store and he’d tell me all sorts of stories about his family and India and the people he sees every night. He was so so nice. My prayers are with his family.”
The gas station remained closed Sunday evening. Right next door to the 76 Station is Knotty Bodies, the new bikini coffee shop that opened for business yesterday. It’s also closed, surrounded in crime tape. (Thanks Silver and SeattleMedic7 for your help on the story.)
Subscribe
Login
61 Comments
Oldest