Gas station attendant shot, killed in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Police are looking for the person who shot and killed a gas station attendant working at U.S. Gas on U.S. Highway 50 and Lodi Avenue on Tuesday night.

A customer discovered the victim, a 27-year-old man, lying on the floor with blood around him about 10:50 p.m. and called 911, South Lake Tahoe police said. Officers found the man without a pulse. They began CPR, but the man was unresponsive and was declared dead. His identity is not being released, pending notification of next of kin.

Using surveillance video, officers confirmed that the victim was shot by a lone, thin man who entered the front door of the store. The suspect was reportedly between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 5 feet, 10 inches and was wearing dark clothing, including a black hoodie and a mask over his face. The man had a brief encounter with the clerk before he raised a handgun and shot him, police said. The clerk fell to the floor immediately and the man fled. Police would not confirm whether only one shot was fired, nor would they say where the victim was shot. Police would not state whether anything was taken from the store.

“There’s a good possibility that he knew the suspect,” Lt. Brian Williams said.

The video points to one single suspect, he said. The incident does not appear to be associated with any other crime.

The suspect appeared to have a fairly light skin tone and is estimated to be between 20 and 40. Surveillance footage did not show any vehicle in the area, but Williams said the suspect might have had a vehicle outside the camera angle.

The gas station remained closed Wednesday morning. South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler waited outside it on a motorcycle. Additional police vehicles were parked about a block away.

“Obviously, we have every available resource working on this,” Uhler said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 530-542-6100 or Secret Witness at 530-541-6800.

Tahoe Daily Tribune staff writer Dylan Silver contributed to this report.

South Lake Tahoe police are processing evidence, questioning witnesses and reaching out to other law enforcement agencies, including the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s office and the local FBI office.