CHARLOTTE — Gunfire erupted inside a west Charlotte gas station, and new video obtained by Channel 9 shows what led up to the deadly encounter.
Channel 9 reported when the shooting happened Saturday evening at the Amaco station on Freedom Drive.
Hurt witnesses told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz that it seemed like the suspected shooter and the victim knew each other.
New surveillance video obtained by Goetz on Monday shows that just before the gunfire, a little girl in a pink jacket stood in the middle of the small store. At that time, Des’mon Thompson and Gregory Dowana were in the parking lot.
Thompson went inside the store, and Dowana followed. Witnessed told Channel 9 that the two started arguing, and a worker asked the men to stop. Surveillance video shows that worker pull the little girl away from the two men.
Within moments, surveillance video shows Thompson and Dowana pulling out guns and running through the store as workers ran out of the way.
Police say Thompson was shot and died at the hospital.
One worker told Goetz she was glad she wasn’t there that night.
“I was scared, like I said, I thank God that I wasn’t there that night. And I just pray for everybody who was involved or did get affected by the situation,” the worker told Goetz.
Police say Dowana had two handguns and a rifle, as well as extra magazines and ammunition in his car. In court on Monday, prosecutors said he also had a ballistic vest in his car.
According to an affidavit obtained by Channel 9, a woman who drove Thompson to the hospital told police that Dowana had been harassing her for a while. She also said Dowana and Thompson got in an argument back in January.
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