Witness to fatal shooting at Santa Ana 7-Eleven speaks out
A witness to the fatal shooting at a 7-Eleven store Monday morning in Santa Ana said that the victim, 24-year-old Matthew Rule, not only stood up to the shooter, but saved his life.
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"His eyes were stone cold," said the witness, identified only as Richard.
He did not want CBSLA to reveal his identity for fear the shooter might remember his face.
"I was in the military and I've seen things happen, but being that close to death, it's...it's scary," he said.
The Marine veteran said said he's been on and off the streets since 2005. In the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 11, he said he was on his way back from getting a sandwich from a nearby shop, when he saw a man wearing all black, pacing in the 7-Eleven parking lot, speaking with a woman on speaker phone.
"I hear her say, 'Don't be stupid, don't do what you did before,'" Richard told CBSLA.
Thinking nothing of it, Richard said he continued walking and that the next thing he knew, the suspect was in his face.
"I turned around and there he was," he said. "He put the gun to my head and said, 'Give me your money.'"
Richard said he immediately showed the man his empty wallet, which he said the suspect threw back at him and continued to give him a hard time. That's when he said the 24-year-old victim, a man he's never met, stood up for him.
"He's like...he's like, 'Hey, you hear what he said. He doesn't have anything.' Then he took the gun and boom and that was it," Richard said.
The Santa Ana police said that the suspect robbed Rule during that altercation, before leaving the parking lot on foot. Crime scene investigators are now studying what was left behind.
"I can't sleep. All I hear is that boom, and seeing him fall," Richard told CBSLA.
The Marine veteran said what he saw trigged his post-traumatic stress disorder. Off camera, he cried when he saw the photos of Brea Police's 7-Eleven shooting suspect, as well as a picture of Rule.
"I feel bad for him. Some stranger took a bullet for me, to save a life," Richard said, and added that the gunmen then told him to run off, which he did.
