A year after a man was shot and killed after a fight with a fellow customer, the mayor of Detroit is moving to outlaw gas stations from locking customers inside the establishment.
According to police, one of the contributing factors in the shooting was the clerk’s decision to lock the door while he was securely behind safety glass.
Employees would not be allowed to remotely lock doors by pressing a button, according to a Detroit City Council policy enacted on Tuesday. According to The Detroit News, it would apply to companies whose employees are covered by glass.
“The goal of this is to ensure that we keep the threat outside the convenience store, gas station, liquor stores or party stores,” council member James Tate stated.
Violence broke out in May 2023 as a result of an unsuccessful $3.80 electronic purchase.
Samuel McCray was captured on camera swearing loudly and adamantly that he would take the goods and leave the gas station. Before cashier Al-Hassan Aiyash pressed a button to lock the door and keep the four inside, three additional persons came in.
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One of the three individuals who was shot died. Charges of attempted and actual murder are brought against McCray. The accusation against Aiyash is involuntary manslaughter. Their legal matters are still open.
Judge Kenneth King remarked of Aiyash, “If not for the fact that he locked the door, none of this would have happened.”
Attorney for Aiyash claimed that when he locked the door, he was unaware that McCray was armed.
