Jackson, Mississippi

From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger of February 15, 2007

Wounded clerks' boss armed, 'ready'

Ahmed Alomari never thought robbers would target his gas station. Even worse, he never figured on his son being hospitalized with four gunshot wounds.

"I don't know what to say. I'm just thankful he's still alive," Alomari said about his son as he handed a customer change.

It was business as usual on Tuesday at the Chevron on 905 W. Northside Drive in Jackson. But three days earlier, it was mayhem as a gunman opened fire on two employees during a robbery.

The attack was caught on surveillance video. Police are still looking for the shooter.

Bassam Alomari, 25, was shot four times, and Alhoussine Arhgoummi, 34, was shot twice. Both men are in fair condition at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The robbery occurred around 1:30 Saturday morning.

The gunman "shot the clerk, jumped the counter, shot another clerk and made off with an undisclosed amount of money," Jackson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jeffery Scott said. "It all happened in about 40 seconds."

Scott said he believes there was at least one other person involved in the robbery.

The video shows a second person reaching into the cash register after the gunman had jumped the counter and pursued one of the clerks.

After being shot once in the neck and three times in the torso, Bassam Alomari grabbed a .44 Magnum, walked out of the store and fired three shots at the suspects, store manager Mohammad Shawsh said.

Arhgoummi, who had worked at the store only four days, was shot once in the head and once in the stomach, Shawsh said.

If there's another robbery, Shawsh said, his employees will be prepared. As Shawsh stocked a shelf Tuesday, he did so with one gun in a hip holster and guns in each of his two front pockets.

"We're ready," he said. "If they come back here, they're not going to leave back out.