Supermarket Manager Slain During Robbery of Store : Crime: Gunman flees after shooting. A bank in the same Yorba Linda shopping center was robbed last year by a bandit who also wore a long black wig as a disguise.

The manager of an Alpha Beta market was shot and killed late Monday by a robber in a black, shoulder-length wig similar to that worn by a bank robber in the same shopping center in October.

The gunman approached Timothy Eugene McVeigh, 34, of Santa Ana at the check stand at about 10:40 p.m. as a handful of customers shopped unaware. He ordered McVeigh to give him money, and then shot him in the chest, police Sgt. Ed McDonald said.

“A guy came up and demanded money. We don’t know if the manager didn’t move quick enough for him or what,” McDonald said.

But Darius Anderson, vice president of public relations for Alpha Beta’s parent company, described a slightly different scenario. He said the gunman had demanded money from a cashier as McVeigh happened to walk by the check stand.

“The manager happened upon the check stand and asked what was going on,” Anderson said. The gunman “turned around and fired a shot” at McVeigh.

The robber escaped from the market, in the 17000 block of Yorba Linda Boulevard, with an undetermined amount of cash.

He was described as about 45, white, medium build, wearing the wig, eyeglasses, blue jeans and a purple sweat shirt.

McVeigh was rushed to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for surgery and died at about 2 a.m., McDonald said.

On Oct. 8, Southern California Bank, also in the Tall Mouse Shopping Center, was robbed by a man whom witnesses said was wearing a shoulder-length, black wig. The robber, described as having a medium build, wore dark makeup on his face and left the shopping center on foot, witnesses said.

McDonald said police are not linking the two robberies.

McVeigh had worked for the supermarket chain for about 12 years and at this store since August, Anderson said. Store officials said he was unmarried and had no children.

Mayor Barbara Kiley said she was shocked about the shooting.

“I shop there all the time,” Kiley said. “This is just terrible. It’s very disappointing. That’s the kind of crime and violence we’ve worked so hard to keep out of Yorba Linda.”

Alpha Beta plans to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s conviction.

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Times staff writer Ken Ellingwood contributed to this report.