Dallas Convenience Store Guard Gunned Down
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Police in Dallas are searching for the suspects who shot and killed a security guard late Monday night. The incident happened at the Bruton Food-Deli convenience store, located near the intersection of Bruton Road and Masters Drive.
The store normally closes at midnight, and the attack took place just as the business was beginning to shut down. According to authorities, this was a robbery gone bad. Officials said that the robbers confronted the security guard and two clerks before firing their weapons. The shooting left bullet holes in the store's front door.
One witness reported hearing four or five gunshots. "All of a sudden, out of dead sleep, I heard a pow-pow-pow-pow-pow," stated neighbor Natalie Gibbs. "I ran over here -- no shoes, no nothing, just in my PJs -- just trying to help him, because he was a real good friend of mine."
An unconfirmed number of suspects reportedly left the scene in a car, and have not yet been apprehended. Officials have not released a description of these individuals or their vehicle. Investigators are now reviewing the store's surveillance camera footage to see if it can provide any information about the suspects or their whereabouts.
Another witness thinks that he saw the suspects as they escaped. "I'd seen three males in there with ski masks on, all black clothes, and they was in there maybe a minute and a half, maybe two minutes," recalled Jimmy Pennington. "They came back out and they came toward the alley wall, and they jumped in a silver-ish gray Grand Marquis."
The security guard was transported to Baylor Medical Center at Dallas and pronounced dead. Police later on Tuesday identified him as 46-year-old Rodney Rone. The store owner said that he has worked at the location for a few years and was an Army veteran with a kind heart.
Neighbors learning about the incident early Tuesday morning started to bring flowers and set up a growing memorial in honor of Rone.
Justin Malone has been a frequent customer at the store for the past two or three years, and knew the security guard from his visits. "It was kind of sad. I actually kind of knew him, talked to him. I didn't know him personally outside of here, but every time he would talk to me and my kids," said Malone. "He was always real nice to my kids. That's one thing I liked."
"He's going to be truly missed," said Darletha Jones. "Whoever did this, they're going to pay."
"I just feel like it's so unfair, that now I can't feel safe going inside the store," added Precious Christian. "It's our community. We live here. We deal with it, but it hurts."
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