Arlington, Texas police have released the video of the armed robbery and shooting death of a store clerk that occurred at the E-Z Mart at Bardin and Matlock Sunday night.
Surveillance footage shows the suspect, 18-year-old Dorian Woodard, enter the convenience store around 3:30 a.m. Woodard allegedly shot the victim multiple times and took several items from the store. Police say Woodard did not give the clerk time to comply and fired his weapon at least eight times.
Woodard was arrested without incident Thursday as he attempted to catch an Uber. Police say tips from the community helped them identify him as the shooter.
“We owe a great deal of thanks to tipsters who provided crucial information in the case,” said Chief of Police Al Jones. “I am also thankful for the widespread news coverage of this case by local media, which enabled detectives to receive multiple tips that helped them to identify Mr. Woodard as the gunman who was captured on store surveillance video committing this crime.”
The victim has been identified as Jordan Hightower, 30.
Hightower recently was married to Kristin Reynolds. She told WFAA he “had a big heart.”
“It had been tough for them to keep an overnight staff member just because of the nature of the job, the hours, and just kind of the things that came along with it,” she said. “He said, ‘No. I’m going to be the person to work this shift and I’m going to get into management and take this store over and it’s going to be a place where everybody can come.'”
Statement from E-Z Mart: “We at E-Z Mart are greatly saddened that one of our teammates was shot in an armed robbery and has succumbed to his injuries. Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will be making the necessary resources available to our entire store-level team to help them cope with this senseless tragedy.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses.
