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Robbery, wild brawl in Chester leads to a shootout with two men dead

Two men shot each other after a robbery and ambush inside a gas station in the predawn hours Saturday.

Police tape blocks a crime scene.
Police tape blocks a crime scene.Read moreARCHIVO / MCT

A shootout during a robbery at a gas station in Chester early Saturday morning left two men dead. They apparently shot each other, police said.

Police responded to a report of a shooting just after 4:15 a.m. near the corner of Ninth and Kerlin Streets, according to a statement from Capt. James P. Chubb of the Chester Police Department. There, officers found 29-year-old Tahriq Doward on the ground in front of an APlus store at a Sunoco gas station, unresponsive and with a gunshot wound in his torso. A handgun was nearby.

Officers then came across Lasantos Saunders, a 30-year-old man in the driver’s seat of a Chevy Impala at the corner of 10th and Concord Avenue. Saunders had also been shot in the chest and was not breathing, police said, and another gun was found close to his car.

Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

After combing through surveillance footage from the area and speaking with witnesses, police learned that Saunders was attacked and robbed by numerous men inside the APlus store that night.

“After intense fighting, store employees were able to gain control of the store and were able to escort the attackers out of the store,” Chubb’s statement said. Saunders, however, hung back inside the store. Moments later, Doward returned and the two exchanged gunfire, each striking the other before Saunders fled. His car was discovered two blocks away.

Police on Saturday charged Jaquail Dale, 21, and Lamont Mallory, 29, with assault, robbery, and other offenses related to the fight.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Victor Heness at 610-447-8429 or vheness245@chesterpolice.org, or Detective Sgt. Larry Patterson at 610-891-4126.