Fatal shooting at Detroit gas station apparently over $3 refund

Detroit — Police are investigating a shooting at a gas station on the city's west side early Saturday that left one dead and two injured.

"We have identified a suspect and that suspect is considered armed and dangerous," Detroit Police Chief James White said at a press conference outside the business Saturday afternoon. "We are asking their community to help us identify who he is so we can get them off the street before he injures someone else."

An altercation between the suspect and the store cashier occurred around 3 a.m. in the Mobil gas station at West McNichols Road and Appoline Street, White said. White said police do not know exactly what happened, but it appears an argument over a refund of about $3 escalated and turned violent.

All of the victims were "innocent customers," White said, calling the situation tragic, ridiculous and unnecessary. Police did not recover a weapon.

The dead man was in his 30s, White said. The other two victims, one in their 60s and one in their late 30s, had non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

"When something like this happens it's just unacceptable. We need to get the suspect off the streets," White said. "We're not going to stop looking and we're gonna get search warrants up, we're gonna be hitting some doors and we're gonna be looking for him so he needs to turn himself in."

White, joined by several officers, said he was shutting down the gas station Saturday afternoon because the business, which was a member of the city's Project Green Light, was unlicensed.

White said he gave the business an opportunity to produce a license Saturday afternoon before shutting it down in case the application was recent and not in the city's system.

Business that participate in Project Green Light, a public-private partnership, have real-time camera connections with police headquarters.

Attempts to contact the gas station owner were not immediately successful.

"Whenever we are dispatched to a business in our city, one of the things that we look at is if the business is licensed," White said. "When we do that we look at everything and in this instance ... this business was unlicensed."

hmackay@detroitnews.com