Suspect dies after store robbery

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A suspected robber was killed outside a cell phone store. He was one of two men who tried to rob a clerk inside the store on Barker Cypress at Keith Harrow in northwest Harris County.

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The clerk chased the men out of the store, firing at them. But it's what happened next that left one man dead.

This all happened around 6:30pm Saturday. Sheriff's department officials say two men dressed in black and wearing ski masks entered a Mobilecom cell phone store. At least one of the men was armed with a gun. They successfully robbed the store of a couple of cell phones and computers.

Several people were inside that store, including employees and witnesses. But the owner was there, and he also had a gun. He chased after the two men into the parking lot.

One man was able to get into a dark colored car and drive off. But the owner apparently shot the other man in the parking lot. The suspect didn't stop running. He ran into the street on Barker Cypress and was struck by a car that was headed southbound, but the man kept on going.

"After he hit the car, he rolled over the hood," recalled Jason Karim, the driver of the car. "He hit the windshield, landed on the back. He got right up. He just kept right on running across the street to the other strip center, and that's where he collapsed in the driveway."

"At this point we're early in the investigation," explained Det. Craig Clopton of the Harris County Sheriff's Department homicide division. "We have to talk to all the witnesses and get everything straightened out. But I can't say that (the owner) would be charged with anything. From the outside looking in, I don't see where he did anything wrong."

Authorities say the suspect who died at the scene did have a weapon. They are continuing to search for the other suspect, but the only have a very vague description and the fact that he fled in a dark colored car. As of 10pm, authorities on the scene were still waiting for the medical examiner to arrive to claim the body of the dead man.

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