St. Louis police say the customer got a handgun from his car, then went back and confronted the suspect
St. Charles, Missouri, early on Saturday morning, a 26-year-old man was allegedly on a “violent crime spree” targeting several gas stations when a customer using the restroom at a third station shot and killed him.
Police said the robber was on a “violent crime spree” across three St. Charles gas stations.
The QuikTrip customer, identified only as a 26-year-old man from St. Louis, stopped around 3:20 a.m. at the gas station at 2260 First Capitol Drive to use the restroom and make a purchase, St. Charles police said in a release on facebook.
A black SUV pulled up suddenly in front of the business as the man was making his way back to his car.
According to authorities, the customer saw a man exit the SUV, enter the QuikTrip with a rucksack in hand, and approach a cashier by the coffee makers. He then seized the cashier and hauled her, screaming, to the front of the store.
The client observed the station employee being threatened with a knife by a man inside. According to authorities, the client entered the business with his 9 mm handgun, confronted the culprit, and then returned to his car.
I have something for you,” the suspect replied before grabbing his backpack and approaching the man, according to investigators.
The customer then fired several times. The suspect fell to the floor. The customer and the clerk, who were uninjured, both called 911, police said.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Police said they believed the same suspect was responsible for two other crimes just prior to the QuikTrip incident.
A guy entered the On The Run convenience shop at the Mobil gas station at 1401 South Fifth Street just before three in the morning on Saturday and announced a robbery. According to investigators, he choked the 43-year-old cashier when she opened the register.
The suspect then forced the employee to the ground, grabbed money from the till, and pulled the employee to the back of the store while demanding to know where the safe was. He hauled the clerk back to the front desk to open a second register when she was unable to access the safe. In a black SUV, this suspect also ran away.
The clerk was brought to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after suffering knife wounds to her left wrist, right hand, and neck.
Around 3:15 a.m., with officers en route to the On The Run, a call came in for an alarm at Midtown Phillips 66, 524 First Capitol Drive. Officers found broken glass and began investigating it as a burglary.
Investigators determined the black SUV was a 2013 Toyota Highlander, reported stolen in an armed robbery on July 15 from the 13500 block of Riverport Drive in Maryland Heights.
Items believed to have been stolen from the burglary at Midtown Phillips 66 were located in the vehicle, police said.
Police said they would not release the name of the suspect before they notified his next of kin.
Lt. Thomas Wilkison, spokesman for St. Charles police, said he would need to talk to his chief before releasing the shooter’s name.
Police also declined to release surveillance video from the three gas stations.