San Diego

A convenience store clerk was killed early Saturday at the AM-PM Mini Mart at College and University avenues. San Diego police said the body of Fred Joseph Harb, 49, who lived in the 5000 block of Art Street, was discovered behind a cooler by two customers who walked into the combination convenience store-gas station about 3 a.m. Police said it appeared that Harb died of head injuries, but an official cause has yet to be determined pending an autopsy by the county coroner’s office. Police said there were signs of a struggle in the store and evidence that someone had forced his way in through a rear screen door. Officer James Smith, the first policeman to arrive at the murder scene, was one of the last to have seen Harb alive when Smith made a purchase at the Mini-Mart at 2 a.m.