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Police release chilling video of man wanted for 7-Eleven double killing in Virginia

Officials hope someone recognises the suspect from the surveillance video

Maroosha Muzaffar
Wednesday 22 June 2022 17:53 BST
Police chief hopes someone recognises 7-Eleven double homicide suspect

Police have released a chilling surveillance video of the moment a 7-Eleven double homicide suspect walked into the convenience store with a bag in one hand and a gun in the other.

The suspect killed two store employees after walking into the 7-Eleven at 11.36pm on 15 June.

The incident took place at the 1400 block of Kiln Creek Parkway in Virginia.

Newport News police chief Steve Drew said he hoped someone would recognise the suspect from the surveillance video.

“My hope is that it generates some conversation when people take a hard look at that,” Mr Drew said.

Gunman enters store ahead of Virginia 7-eleven double homicide

“Someone might recognise something: clothing, movements, body shape, size – just to give us some idea.”

On the night of the shooting, police received a call about a “suspicious situation” after a customer noticed some activity inside.

When police arrived at the 7-Eleven store, they found two employees of the convenience store dead.

The two victims were identified by the police later as 52-year-old Preyas Patel and 35-year-old Logan Thomas.

They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police releases video of the 7-Eleven double-homicide suspect
Police releases video of the 7-Eleven double-homicide suspect (Screengrab/YouTube/13News Now)

“Anyone who takes two people’s lives is a dangerous individual,” Mr Drew said.

“I still think the leading theory is, it was a robbery. But those things can change as well,” he added.

He asked the community to be vigilant. “We don’t get a lot of calls there in that neighbourhood or community. Not a lot of issues at that 7-Eleven. So what I would ask citizens to do is be vigilant. If you see something that looks out of the norm, to call it in and let us know about it.”

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