By STEVE THOMPSON / The Dallas Morning News
stevethompson@dallasnews.com
The corner store was quiet when the gunman strode in. The clerk behind the counter, who in moments would be shot and killed, was finishing things up for the evening. A stocker was stacking boxes. A customer, a 56-year-old woman, was emerging from the bathroom.
The gunman held some sort of assault rifle and wore something over his face, says the woman, who is not being identified for her protection.
He pointed his gun at the woman’s face. Then he turned and walked around the counter toward the clerk, 48-year-old Tadessa Kebede, nicknamed Shorty because he stood about 5-foot-4. Mr. Kebede, who at that moment may have been thinking about getting home to his pregnant wife, came to the U.S. from Ethiopia about 25 years ago as a refugee.
The woman saw the gunman swing his weapon toward Mr. Kebede’s head just as the stocker pushed her back into the bathroom.
“Oh, my God, we’re fixing to die; we’re fixing to die,” the woman repeated to herself, as she and the stocker huddled in the bathroom and heard at least one gunshot. When it was quiet again and the gunman was gone, they came out.
The stocker peered over the counter. “I believe Shorty’s dead,” he told the woman. It was about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
In minutes, Mr. Kebeda’s wife got a call from a close friend who had gotten word of the shooting.
They rushed to Baylor University Medical Center together and soon heard from doctors that Mr. Kebede was dead. He suffered a gunshot wound in his torso, police said.
The friend, 29-year-old Jenet Yimina, on Tuesday described Mr. Kebede as “very nice, very sweet, very giving.”
He has worked various jobs, and he recently finished school to be a nurse’s aide, she said. But mostly on his mind was the baby girl his wife is to give birth to in a couple of months.
Back where Hall Street meets Munger Avenue, near the parking lot of the Quick Save Food Mart, word of what happened spread among residents of Roseland Townhomes, a subsidized housing complex that backs up to the store.
“If you were short a few pennies, then he would let you go and tell you not to worry about it,” one of the store’s regulars, Liz Starks, said in front of several television news cameras.
Dallas police investigators, who walked the neighborhood looking for tips, said people were forthcoming. Mr. Kebede was well liked, they said, and people there want to see the killer caught.
Police said the gunman came into the store with another man, and they robbed the store of its cash register.
Schepps Dairy, which often puts up rewards in crimes such as this, offered $10,000 to anyone who leads Dallas police to the killers by calling 214-671-3661 with information.
A few miles away at a small Dallas apartment, family and friends like Ms. Yimina brought food and gathered to console Mr. Kebede’s wife.
“I wish they’ll find who did it,” Ms. Yimina said. Getting shot might be a fitting punishment for the killer, she said. “I know it’s not going to bring his life back, but …” Her voice trailed off.
“You can rob a store, but you don’t kill people,” she said. “You just take what you want, and go.”
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