Surveillance Video Released In LA Tan Robbery, Shooting
ORLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) - Surveillance video from the weekend robbery and subsequent shooting at an LA Tan in Orland Park was released Tuesday.
The video shows the dramatic moments inside a tanning salon, as a customer confronts and then kills the alleged "honeybee" killer.
Inside the LA Tan salon, surveillance video shows a young female employee behind the counter, with suspect Gary Amaya, 48, entering the scene. After chatting with the employee for a brief moment, Amaya displays a gun in his right hand.
Amaya orders the female worker to tie herself up with rope in her chair. The worker obliges and is seen fumbling with the ropes.
Customer Jason McDaniel, 29, enters the salon, sees what's happening and offers the man cash.
"Take the money and go," he says.
Amaya pulls the gun out of his coat as McDaniel steps behind the counter. Amaya tells McDaniel he's going to tie him up. The suspect reaches for rope in a bag and briefly puts the gun on the counter.
McDaniel doesn't hesitate. He rushes Amaya, grabs the gun from the counter and elbows the suspect in the face. There is a struggle just out of the camera's view.
One shot rings out, and still Amaya rushes at McDaniel. The customer fires again and the suspect goes down.
Tests show that the weapon Amaya took into the LA Tan salon was the same weapon used in the so-called "honeybee" or "state line" shooting spree in early October.
Amaya also physically resembles the sketch of the killer that was released by police.
The "Honeybee Killer" shot at three construction workers near Beecher, Ill. killing one of them, and later shot and wounded a farmer in Lowell, Ind.
Orland Park is northwest of the Illinois-Indiana border area where an unknown gunman struck in the October attacks. Those drew national attention after the gunman asked one victim about honeybees.
Meanwhile, Jason McDaniel is being described as a hero for his quick thinking.
Tonight, McDaniel talked about the impact of the video.
"People will get to see what really happened, what actually, really took place. You know, it was a very scary situation," he said.
When asked if it would bother him to watch the video again, McDaniel said, "No, no. Not at all."
LA Tan chairman Nick Patel said he's afraid seeing the video will cost him more lost sleep.
"I would rather erase the memory, not to see it. But the world wants to see it," Patel said.
Orland Park Police say McDaniel showed "bravery and courage" during the incident. He will not face charges.
In another twist, Gary Amaya apparently tried to kidnap a prostitute in Chicago just hours before he was killed with his own gun.
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Her purse was found in Amaya's pickup truck that he drove to the tanning salon.
The prostitute told police that on Friday night, a man in a truck picked her up near the underpass at 47th and Kilbourn, which is a busy truck route.
She says he drove her about four blocks north to a desolate industrial area near the Stevenson Expressway.
Sources say Amaya tried to handcuff and tie up the prostitute, but she escaped, leaving her purse behind in Amaya's truck.
Amaya might have tried to shoot the woman as she was running away. Police found the purse, along with handcuffs and rope, inside Amaya's pickup truck after he was shot and killed.
