Police Fatally Shoot Would-Be Robber in Convenience Store Stakeout

Three police officers staking out a convenience store because of repeated robberies shot and killed a 20-year-old armed bandit after he began forcing the clerk into the back room early Sunday, authorities said.

The Van Nuys man was killed in the 7-Eleven parking lot in the 7000 block of Van Nuys Boulevard at 12:30 a.m. Sunday, said Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Estelle Sison.

Police had staked out the store in hope of catching the “Lotto bandit”--a robber who filches lottery tickets, cigarettes and money. It is unclear if the dead man is the suspect they were seeking, police said.

Coroner’s investigators declined to identify the man, pending notification of his family.

The incident began when the man walked in, pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded money, Sison said. The robber ordered the clerk to go into the back room, a storage area containing an employee restroom.

At that point, robbery Det. Keith Hunter, 34, of the Van Nuys division, confronted the suspect and identified himself as a police officer. “Fearing for his life and that of the clerk, [the detective] fired his duty weapon, striking the suspect,” said a statement issued by the LAPD.

The man ran into the parking lot, police said, where Officers Chris McKinney, 30, and Don Schmidt, 25, were waiting. They ordered him to drop his weapon, but he pointed the gun at them, police said. The officers opened fire, killing the suspect. Sison said she did not know whether the suspect shot at the officers or what provoked Hunter to fire on the man.

Paramedics pronounced the suspect dead at the scene of the shooting, Sison said.

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Investigators spent nearly 10 hours going over the scene in the mini-mall, said Hogla Carranza, 15, whose family owns a Salvadoran restaurant three doors down from the convenience store. She said her family had to wait three hours to open, until authorities had removed the body and washed away the blood.

“It’s creepy,” Carranza said. “Nothing like this has happened here before.”

The 7-Eleven store was open for business Sunday afternoon.

“All convenience stores are shot up once in a while,” said an employee, who asked not to be identified. “It’s not a new thing, at this store or any store.”

Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.