PHOENIX — Police said a convenience store employee and a suspected shooter are dead after a shooting near 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road Wednesday evening.
Phoenix police said when officers arrived at the store; the shooting suspect had already left the scene.
Authorities said witnesses told officers the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Jaime Flores, walked a short distance away and then turned the gun on himself.
Police said the employee, identified as 30-year-old Shane Knoll, was treated by emergency crews but was pronounced deceased on scene.
Investigators said the suspect was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
"I couldn't believe it'd happened," said Ramon Yslava, who works at an auto repair shop just feet away.
Yslava said the suspect, who has not been identified, came up to him 30 minutes before the shooting and claimed he owned a white truck that was parked outside the shop.
"I already knew off the bat that he [wasn't] the owner of the truck," he added.
After a brief conversation, Yslava told the man to leave. The adult man walked near the gas station and did what appeared to be drugs before going into the gas station, he added.
"Not even about 10 minutes, he came back out, walked up off that step there... and shot himself," Yslava said. "I couldn't believe it'd happened."
Yslava said he frequents the convenience store where the shooting happened and knows the employee that was killed, having just seen him an hour before the incident.
"He was very nice, always kidding around," Yslava said. "We'd call him hippie 'cause he was like a hippie."
Police said Knoll attempted to trespass Flores off the business. After the suspect refused to comply, the two men got into a scuffle and Knoll pulled out a gun.
Flores was able to get ahold of the gun and shot Knoll before shooting himself, police said.
Hours after the shooting, Yslava was still shaken up, wondering what if the suspect had reacted differently with him when he spoke to the man.
"What if he would have pulled a gun on us? He could have [done] that to us. we wouldn't have known... it's scary," Yslava said.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with Knoll's funeral expenses.
If you would like to help, you can donate here.
This is a developing story. Stay with 12News for updates.
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