A convenience store employee was shot after he asked two men trying to buy tobacco products for their identification in Southwest Philadelphia on Sunday night, police said.
The 24-year-old worker was critically injured when a man reached his gun on the other side of a plexiglass divider and opened fire, police said. The shooting allegedly stemmed from an argument after the employee asked the gunman and another man for their ID.
It happened inside of a 7-Eleven store on the 2900 block of South 70th Street around 9 p.m., Philadelphia Police Inspector D.F. Pace said.
Two men in their 20s walked into the store and asked the man behind the counter for tobacco products, Pace said. The worker requested to see their IDs and an argument broke out.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Pace said either the two didn't have identification, or refused to show it, and when the employee told them he could not sell the products to them unless he verified their ages, one of the men pulled out a handgun.
The man then reached underneath the plexiglass divider and fired at least three shots at the employee, police said. He was struck once in the neck and one time in the arm.
Pace said before a 911 call had even been placed, officers doing a security check of the store saw the commotion and took the victim to the hospital. He was listed in critical but stable condition, police said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
The two men ran off before police arrived, Pace said. Investigators were hopeful surveillance video from inside the store would help them find whoever is responsible for the shooting.
No arrests had been made as of Sunday night, police said.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
