2 killed and 3 injured in shootings at four 7-Eleven stores in California, police say OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Two people were killed and three injured in predawn shootings Monday at four 7-Eleven stores in Southern California. Authorities said they were looking for one gunman in connection with at least three of the shootings.
The shootings appear to have occurred after robberies or attempted robberies at the four convenience stores on July 11 or 7/11 — a day when the national brand 7-Eleven is celebrating its 95th anniversary by handing out free Slurpee drinks.
“Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones,” said 7-Eleven, Inc. in a statement. “We are collecting information about this terrible tragedy and working with the local police.”
It was not immediately clear to investigators what prompted the shootings in the cities of Riverside, Santa Ana, Brea and La Habra, or why the violence occurred on July 11.
“I think the only person who can answer that would be the suspect,” said Officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Department, where the first shooting happened at about 1:50 a.m. being 7-Eleven, July 11.”
Signage is displayed outside a 7-Eleven store, a subsidiary of Seven & i Holdings Co., in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on Monday, August 3, 2020.
Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Riverside shooting — where the victim was in serious condition — has not yet been officially linked with the others, Railsback said, “although they are all very similar.” Authorities have not said what differentiated the Riverside shooting from the other three.
In that incident, the gunman robbed the clerk and brandished a pistol, aimed the weapon at a customer, opened fire and fled, Railsback said.
“It doesn’t look like the suspect shot the customer,” Railsback said. “It sounds like the clerk gave him everything he asked for.”
The second shooting happened around 3:20 a.m., about 24 miles away in Santa Ana, authorities said.
Officers responding to the report of gunfire to the 7-Eleven in that city found a man dead in the parking lot with one bullet to his torso, according to Sgt. Maria Lopez, a Santa Ana police spokesman.
“Right now we don’t think he was an employee. We don’t really know yet what he was doing in a parking lot, whether he was a potential customer or just walking by,” Lopez said.
Lopez said detectives believe the suspect in the Santa Ana murder is the same individual who then traveled 20 miles to Brea, where a 7-Eleven employee was found dead from a gunshot wound at about 4:18 a.m.
Brea Police Capt. Phil Rodriguez said officers responded to a call and found the worker injured. He was later pronounced dead.
“This appears to be a robbery turned into a murder,” Rodriguez said.
Less than an hour later, officers in neighboring La Habra were dispatched to a reported robbery of a 7-Eleven. They discovered two gunshot victims around 4:55 a.m., according to Sgt. Summer Bohee. The shooter had fled.
“We are convinced it is the same suspect,” Rodriguez said.