DETROIT – A Detroit business employee was shot and killed Tuesday by a robber while taking out trash behind the building, police said.
The incident happened just after 7 p.m. on Woodward Avenue, south of 7 Mile Road, at the water station.
Police said the water station employee was taking out the trash when he ran into two men with guns in the alley.
"They forced him back into the store and took the cash register," Detroit police Capt. Steve Walton said. "Then they went back outside to empty their pockets."
That's when a struggle began, police said.
"The business owners started to wrestle with the gunmen," Walton said. "Shots were fired. The gunman and his partner escaped, and one owner was shot in the alley -- deceased."
Police said the surviving men told them why they had decided to try to fight their way out.
"They said they thought they were going to be executed out there," Walton said. "I mean, that's a personal choice, a decision they made where they thought fighting was their best option at that point."
The victim is believed to be Devin Lewis, 29, who was the general manager. The current owner, who took over the business from his late mother, said Lewis was important as a businessman and a friend.
The owner said in the six or seven years they've been at the location, they've had no robberies.