A shooting at a convenience store in Oakland left the security guard who worked there dead Friday night.
The shooting happened shortly before 10:15 p.m. at the 7-Eleven store on the corner of Harrison Street and Bay Place, according to police. The store's owner told NBC Bay Area that the person killed was his store’s security guard, adding that other employees were uninjured.
Oakland police later confirmed the death of the person working as a security guard. The guard was trying to stop a person from taking items when that person shot the guard, police said.
Oakland Police also said the person who fired the shot fled in a car. The security guard died of his injuries. Police are not releasing his name yet, but the Alameda County Coroner said he was a 59-year-old man.
Police have not yet released information about a potential suspect.
People living nearby told NBC Bay Area this 7-Eleven is a fixture in the community and that they'd often see this guard when they'd stop by to grab coffee, or sports drinks, or ice cream. Many customers stopped by the store Saturday to express their personal condolences to store staff.
Two regular customers, who declined to give their names, brought over some flowers to begin a memorial for this security guard outside the store.
"I’ve gone in many times and he’s sitting there and saying hi to people and talking to people," the woman arranging the flowers said.
Maceo Jones-Tercero of Oakland was one of the regular customers who came by to express his condolences to the staff on Saturday. He said that he had seen and talked to the security guard hours before this shooting happened.
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"It was very unfortunate what happened, it was very unfortunate and senseless," Jones-Tercero said of the shooting.
Police are investigating the shooting and ask anyone with information to contact them at 510-238-3821.
