Valdosta Convenience Store Clerk Fatally Shoots Armed Man Who Came Inside Demanding Surveillance Video After Opening Fire on a Man Outside at 12:30 A.M.

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VALDOSTA, GA — A convenience store clerk shot and killed an armed man shortly after midnight on Sunday, Oct. 25, after the man opened fire on another man outside the store and then came inside holding a handgun and demanding the surveillance video, according to the Valdosta Police Department.

The clerk has not been charged. Police said the investigation and evidence show he fired because he feared for his life, as reported by Fox 49, which also reported that the 38-year-old man wounded outside has since been treated and released.

Officers were dispatched at 12:30 a.m. to the store in the 1300 block of North Troup Street after a 911 call about a shooting. While they were on the way, the store employee called 911 himself and said he had shot a man who pulled a gun on him.

Officers found a 53-year-old man on the floor with multiple gunshot wounds and a handgun beside him. They began life-saving measures until South Georgia Emergency Medical Services and the Valdosta Fire Department arrived. He was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

While officers were still working out what happened inside, a second 911 call came in about a person who had been shot, in a vehicle at North Ashley Street and Rosedale Drive. The driver told officers the 38-year-old victim had been shot somewhere else and they were taking him to the hospital. Lowndes County deputies helped get him there. At the hospital, he told officers an unknown man had shot him outside the North Troup Street store.

Detectives pieced together the rest from evidence at the scene, including surveillance video. According to police, the 53-year-old had been outside the store drinking alcohol and carrying a handgun. He got into an altercation with the 38-year-old, pulled the gun, and started shooting. The victim ran. The 53-year-old kept firing at him as he fled.

Inside, the clerk heard the shots. He ran behind the counter for cover and tried to activate the door locks.

His first move was cover. His second was trying to lock the threat out. He did not go outside looking for the man with the gun, and that is exactly the mindset I want every armed citizen to have.

The man came to him anyway. He walked into the store holding the firearm. He yelled at the clerk in a threatening manner. He demanded the surveillance video. Police said his actions put the clerk in fear for his life. The clerk pulled his own firearm and shot him to stop the threat.

The man making that demand had just fired repeatedly at someone running away, and he was asking for the footage of it with the gun still in his hand.

After the shooting, the clerk secured the store and called 911. Calling it in himself put his account on the record before officers ever reached the door.

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According to Fox 49, police said surveillance video also showed several people who were not there when the shooting happened run up to the door and film the 53-year-old lying on the floor while making comments about the incident. They ran off when they heard sirens. Detectives are working to identify them to determine whether they have information about what happened.

Police have not publicly identified the clerk or the man he shot.

Read the original story: Valdosta Convenience Store Clerk Fatally Shoots Armed Man Who Came Inside Demanding Surveillance Video After Opening Fire on a Man Outside at 12:30 A.M.