Houston – An attempted robbery at a southwest Houston convenience store ends with a good Samaritan shot to death, and the gunman getting away empty-handed, according to Houston Police Department.
Police said a man with a gun entered the store at 7201 Bissonnet around 4 a.m. Sunday. The store clerk was outside of the secured register area at the time. The gunman approached the store clerk and tried to force him to open the secured area.
Surveillance video shows the gunman and the store clerk in a physical struggle. Another man, who often volunteers at the store, Elwin Oubre, was also inside the store.
“He tried to get the money and was pushing me, and I was pushing him back,” said the store clerk, who didn’t want to be identified. “(The gunman) dropped the gun accidentally, so (Oubre) tried to pick up the gun, or I don’t know what he was trying to do, but he was trying to help me.”
Oubre was shot and killed.
This surveillance video shows you the scuffle right before the deadly shooting inside a convenience store in the 7200 block of Bissonnet. A gunman is wrestling with the store clerk. A man tries to stop it and is shot. The gunman is at large. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/MOwv99UcsV
— Taisha Walker (@KPRC2Taisha) January 12, 2020
Sunday afternoon, Oubre’s family told us he was not homeless, as some erroneous news reports suggested. They described him as the kind of man who would do anything to help out. The bike he rode to the convenience store was still chained up behind the store Sunday afternoon. Store employees and other friends had left mementos, flowers and candles on the bike.
“He did save my life, but I can’t thank him enough you know,” said the store clerk. “I’m really glad that he helped me. I feel bad for him at the same time.”
Houston Police Department released a photo of a person of interest in the robbery. They also said a cell phone was left behind in the attempted robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Houston Police Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.