PRINCETON, W.Va. — An early morning armed robbery in Princeton left two people dead Thursday.
Police were called to the B-P Station on Stafford Drive in Princeton about 2:30 a.m. Officers arrived and found the clerk, Susan Daniel, 23, of Princeton, with gunshot wounds.
“Officers rendered first aid to her and she was transported to Princeton Community Hospital,” said Princeton Police Chief John Howell. “Unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries later in the morning.”
Police developed a suspect’s description and the description of his vehicle from an eyewitness who had seen the man go into the store and called 911. The alleged shooter, now identified as Shakim Saunders, 19, of Princeton, was found only two blocks away at the intersection of South 7th Street and Bluefield Avenue.
“The suspect was in the vehicle and appeared to have died from a self inflicted gunshot wound,” said Howell.
Howell said they’ll never know for sure, but speculated Saunders probably realized what he had done and was driven to take his own life. What happened inside the convenience store will also never be known. The store’s security cameras were not operating and didn’t capture the robbery on video.
Howell wouldn’t say how much money was taken from the store’s cash register, but believed it was all recovered from Saunders’ car.
It’s the first time in Howell’s 25 years with the department he could recall a robbery in which the store clerk was shot. He called it a tragic incident for two families.
“A husband has lost his wife and they had a two or three year old child and we have the mother of a young man and she’s lost her son,” said Howell.