5 Shot to Death, 1 Critically Hurt in Apparent Robbery at Car Wash

Five people were shot to death and another was critically wounded early Monday in an apparent robbery at a car wash.

The victims were discovered by an employee arriving for work at the Mi-T-Fine Car Wash, police spokesman David Tull said.

“We haven’t seen anything this gruesome, this vicious, in quite some time,” Tull said.

Police said they were looking for a suspect in the slayings--an ex-employee named Robert Wayne Harris, 28. Television reports said Harris was fired Friday after police arrested him for exposing himself to two women at the business.

Investigators said they were looking into whether Harris may have returned seeking revenge for his termination.

Police identified three of the dead as car wash employees Dennis Lee, 48; Rhoda Wheeler, 45; and Augustine Villasenor, 36.

Villasenor’s brother, Benjamin, 32, and Roberto Jimenez, 15, died at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. An unidentified man was in critical condition at Parkland. Authorities declined to say if the other victims also were employees of the car wash.

“They’re my friends,” said Lance Turner, a former employee. “I worked side by side with them. When hard-working people get hurt like that, it’s a sad deal.”

The car wash is along a busy thoroughfare in Irving, seven miles northwest of Dallas.