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UPDATE: Convenience store owner shot in chest, police searching for two suspects

Posted at 12:40 AM, Mar 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-23 22:15:34-04

A  convenience store owner was rushed to the hospital late last night after he was shot in the chest during an armed robbery.An employee close to the store owner says he is expected to be alright. 

According to Waco Police, at 10:55 p.m. two men wearing t-shirts wrapped around their faces walked into Sammy's Food Mart at 3600 Bagby Avenue. The owner was in the back of the store at the time, but when he returned, one suspect pulled out a small semi-automatic handgun and fired at least one shot, striking the owner once in the chest.

Store employee Debbie Lopez, was contacted after the shooting. She says she spoke with the store owner after the incident, recounting to her how he played dead as he waited for robbers to leave the store. Lopez said the owner laid on the stores floor while the robbers stomped on the cash register. When he heard the bell ring he took it as a sign left and called for help. 

The suspects  broke into the register and made off on foot with cash and the owner's gun. The victim was rushed to Hillcrest Hospital where he is stable. The bullet passed through his chest but is now lodged in his back, Sammy's manager said.

"He was complaining his chest hurt," Waco police said. "He was a bigger guy and we believe he was shot with a smaller caliber gun."

Police say this is not the first time this location has been robbed, but the first time the incident has been this severe. Right now, police are searching for two African American males. Police said these two men match the description of an earlier robbery where a Baylor student was robbed at Gunpoint in Oakwood Park.

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