According to police, a South Carolina convenience store owner has been charged with murder after killing a 14-year-old boy he suspected of stealing water on Sunday.
During a Monday press conference, Richland County Sheriff’s Department claimed that Rick Chow, 58, who runs a Shell gas station in Columbia, chased Cyrus Carmack-Belton along the street outside the store before fatally shooting him at around 8 p.m.
“It’s senseless, it doesn’t make sense,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. “You have a bereaved family.” We have a community in mourning over the death of a 14-year-old boy.”
After reviewing CCTV footage from the event, the sheriff’s office determined that Chow’s claim that the youngster was attempting to shoplift was incorrect.
“Regardless, even if he had shoplifted four bottles of water — which is what he initially took out of the cooler, and then he put them back — even if he’d done that, that’s not something you shoot anybody over, much less a 14-year-old, but you just don’t do that,” Lott explained.
Chow and his son allegedly chased Carmack-Belton down the road after a verbal confrontation in the business and suspected him of holding a pistol. Deputies discovered a gun near the teenager’s body, but there was no proof that he threatened Chow with it, according to police.
According to the county coroner, Carmack-Belton died from a gunshot wound in the lower back.
On Monday, members of the neighborhood gathered outside the Shell station to protest the shooting, and there were applause when Chow’s charges were announced.
According to WIS-TV, the store was also broken into and vandalized Monday night, causing authorities to disperse the gathering.
On the condition of anonymity, a witness to the shooting who contacted 911 and talked to a local station questioned whether anyone would “want to go in the store now because anything can happen now these days, and everybody’s getting trigger-happy.”
“I just really hope he gets justice for it because that young man didn’t have to die like that,” added the witness. “However, after witnessing that yesterday, I’m terrified for my own brother and any of the kids in my neighborhood, because these kids come outside all the time, and they come to this store all the time.”
“Now it’s like you have to watch your kids,” the witness continued.
