Cops Release Video Of Gas Station Robbery, Murder
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police have released surveillance video images of two men who killed the owner of a South Side gas station on Christmas Eve after robbing the business of $2,500.
Jojo James, 31, was working at his gas station at 43rd and State streets with another attendant on Christmas Eve when two gunmen forced their way inside and robbed the gas station.
Surveillance video released on Tuesday shows the two gunmen pointing their weapons at James and the other attendant as they take cash from the register. Both James and the other employee crouch down on the ground behind the counter as the gunmen rob them.
Although the video does not show the shooting, the robbers shot and killed James as they were on their way out.
At the time of the robbery, James was preparing for a change of shifts and was looking forward to spending his first Christmas with his 5-month-old son. His wife is also pregnant with their second child.
The robbers did not shoot or injure the cashier who was with James at the time.
"Twenty-five hundred dollars (for) the life of a man. That's horrible," James' uncle, Jaibu Mathew, said after the robbery. "They should have taken the money and go home. ... Why did they shoot him? We don't know."
Mathew says his nephew had just taken out the trash at the BP station he co-owned when at least two men approached him. When he tried to lock the door, they forced their way inside, told him and a cashier to lie down and then stole the money.
They opened fire on the way out, shooting James in the neck, chest and leg.
Still images from the surveillance video show glimpses of the robbers' faces. Police described the two gunmen as black men between 20 and 35 years of age. Both were wearing dark clothes and hooded sweatshirts and were carrying semiautomatic pistols.
Anyone with information about the fatal robbery should call Wentworth Area Detectives at 312-747-8380 or Cook County Crime Stoppers at 800-535-7867.
