From The Monitor of November 10, 2008
Attempted carjacker gets shot
The clerk warned Alejandro Salinas about the suspicious men who had been hanging out in front of the convenience store for the past hour.
He told Salinas to be careful as he went back out to his Chevrolet Z-71 pickup truck, that he had just filled at the Aziz Convenience Store about 11 a.m. Saturday.
Salinas walked out to his truck and hopped in.
But before he could close the door, 18-year-old Hector Severo Ramos was holding a .25-caliber pistol at Salinas' neck, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño.
"He says ‘Get out of the truck. I'm going to take it and I'm going to kill you," Treviño said of Ramos.
Salinas told the gunman to calm down; they could work things out.
Then he pushed Ramos' pistol away, pulled out his own pistol and fired two 9 mm bullets into Ramos' chest.
Ramos fired once into the air and his arms fell onto Salinas.
The two men tumbled to the pavement as blood spilled from Ramos' chest.
Three men who were with Ramos took off from the convenience store at Texas Highway 107 and Alamo Road in a brown Chevrolet Impala, deputies said.
Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and emergency crews rushed Ramos to McAllen Medical Center, where he died upon arrival.
Salinas had a license to carry a concealed firearm and a clean criminal record, Treviño said.
Ramos, a U.S. citizen who lived in South Alamo, had been arrested for giving a false report to a police officer, aggravated robbery, theft and engaging in organized criminal activity, Treviño said.
Ramos may have been involved with a local gang or attempting to start a new one, Treviño said.
Deputies continue to look for the three men who were with Ramos before he was shot. They could face murder and aggravated robbery charges, Treviño said.
"If they fled knowing (Ramos) was dying at the scene and they were all responsible for the commission of this felony, then they could be held liable for that," Treviño said.
Meanwhile, the sheriff said he would likely not pursue criminal charges against Salinas, who told deputies he killed Ramos in self-defense.
"This is not a murder," Treviño said. "This is a justifiable homicide."
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