7-Eleven store owner shot during robbery in Philadelphia

A 7-Eleven store owner in Northeast Philadelphia was shot in the chest Sunday morning when he walked in on a robbery, police said.

The victim, 48, had emerged from the freezer area in the rear of the store on the 1900 block of Welsh Road in the Bustleton section shortly before 10 a.m. as a man with a black semi-automatic handgun was demanding money from a cashier, a 46-year-old woman, police said. When she struggled to open the register, the gunman went behind the counter and began to assault her, police said.

At that time, the owner approached from the back of the store and was shot at least once in the chest, police said.

The gunman took the cash drawer, which contained an unknown amount of cash, and ran east on Welsh Road, according to police.

The store owner, whose identity was not disclosed, was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon, police said.

Police described the gunman as bearded with a dark complexion, between the ages of 20 and 30, about 6-foot tall, 140 to 160 pounds, and last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a black shirt with colorful print, and black-purple-and-orange basketball shorts (possibly imprinted with the Phoenix Suns logo).

The Northeast Detectives Division is attempting to gather video footage from surrounding businesses.