Search continues for Kent gas station shooter’s companion; victim identified
Aug 22, 2014, 7:18 AM | Updated: 3:32 pm
The suspect, Leland Dean Russell, admitted to police he shot the victims at the Shell service station in Kent, according to court documents.
Detectives in Kent continue their search for the friend of a man suspected of shooting and killing two gas station employees at close range.
Commander Jarod Kasner with the Kent Police Department told KIRO Radio investigators are hard at work.
“With such surmountable amount of witness statements and evidence collected – it’s just going through each piece of that and putting back together a timeline of events that took place that day,” said Kasner.
Witnesses said two men in a black Cadillac, with music blaring, pulled into the Shell service station in a way that blocked other customers Wednesday morning.
According to the witnesses, the suspect and his companion argued with others and one of the men pulled out a gun and shot the two victims.
One of the victims has been identified by the King County Medical Examiner’s office as a longtime employee of the service station, 52-year-old David Christian. The clerk, who was also shot and killed, has not yet been identified.
The suspect, Leland Dean Russell, admitted to police he shot the victims, according to court documents.
Russell, a 29-year-old Hispanic man, told police that construction workers at the gas station directed racial slurs at him and a companion, who is black. He told officers they repeated the racial epithets again inside the gas station.
The gas station employees joined in the verbal argument inside the store, according to Russell.
Surveillance video shows a brief confrontation between the victims and the companion. Russell, an admitted gang member, is then seen retrieving a gun from a black Cadillac and shooting both victims at close range in the parking lot, according probable cause documents.
Russell told investigators the fight was over disrespect and he had to shoot the victims because if he didn’t, his companion’s family would kill him for not standing up for his friend.
A judge set bail at $2 million for Russell, who waived his appearance at the King County Jail Thursday afternoon. A second appearance is scheduled for Aug. 25.
Police said Russell has been arrested before for burglary and felony harassment.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
