When two masked robbers demanded cash, Jose Joaquin Morales, 33, of Stamford handed it over to them and got down on the ground, but they shot him anyway, according to news reports.
Morales, a gas station clerk in Norwalk, was rushed to the hospital after the gas station robbery on Saturday. He had been shot in the head and was in critical condition. His family members have since made the difficult decision to remove him from life support, the Connecticut Post reports. He died on Monday, Morales' cousin, Marvin Morales, told the Associated Press. The hospital confirms his death.
Police Chief Harry Rilling called Saturday's shooting at the West Avenue gas station "horrendous" and "outrageous." He hopes people with information are so angry that they will call police to help them solve the case.
"The robbery was extremely brutal. Words cannot explain how horrendous this was," Rilling told the Post.
The store’s security video shows why Morales described it as horrendous. The clerk complies with the robbers’ demands and he was on the ground when one of them shot him in the head, Rilling told the newspaper.
Investigators say they're making progress, but they're not ready to release the surveillance video footage.
An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
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Morales’ cousin, Luis Morales, told the newspaper that “Joaquin” came to America to create a better future and to help his parents by sending them money, the paper reports.
Family members are trying to raise about $14,000 to send his body back for burial in Guatemala.
The killing was Norwalk's first homicide of the year. No arrests have been made.
