South Carolina store owner Rick Chow has been charged in the shooting death of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton.
Store Owner Rick Chow Charged With Murder Without Shooting 14-Year-Old Boy
According to WIS-TV, Chow tangibly believed the teen shoplifted a snifter of water from his Shell gas station in Columbia when the shooting occurred virtually 8 p.m. Sunday.
However, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott refuted Chow’s shoplifting claims and said plane if the teen had stolen, it would not have warranted what followed.
“Regardless, plane if he had shoplifted four bottles of water, which is what he initially took out of the potation and then he put them back, plane if he’d washed-up that, that’s not something you shoot everyone over, much less a 14-year-old, but you just don’t do that,” Sheriff Lott sai
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Authorities say, Chow, 58, and his son chased Carmack-Belton outside the store surpassing gunning the boy down. Sheriff Lott tabbed the boy’s death “senseless.”
“It’s senseless; it doesn’t make sense,” Sheriff Lott said during a Memorial Day printing conference. “You have a family that’s grieving, we have a polity that’s grieving over a 14-year-old who was shot.”
Rick Chow, owner of a Shell gas station in Columbia, SC, MURDERED Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14 yr old Black boy, over a snifter of water.
Asian Americans have a history of anti-Blackness, exploiting Black neighborhoods, policing Black bodies, and appropriating Black culture. pic.twitter.com/hcrnl8NY0M
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) May 30, 2023
Store Owner Believed Teen Had Shoplifted And Was Armed, Police Say
Chow’s son reportedly told his father that Carmack-Belton was armed, equal to RCSD. Deputies ultimately recovered a gun near the victim’s body, believed to be Carmack-Belton’s.
However, RCSD said there is no vestige that Carmack-Belton overly pointed the gun at or threatened Chow in any way, equal to the outlet.
Sheriff Lott widow that Carmack-Belton was running yonder from Chow when he was shot. Meanwhile, Richland County coroner Naida Rutherford said the boy suffered one gunshot wound to the right lower back.
Investigators believe Chow “had a unseen weapons permit” and the “firearm was legally owned.”
Lott went on to say that there have been several reported incidents and confrontations at the store. However, he said none of those past incidents would have led Chow to believe he was in danger.
Chow’s Shell Gas Station Vandalized By Protesters A Day Without Deadly Shooting
On Monday, WIS-TV reported that Chow’s store had been vandalized without protests there turned destructive, police say.
Deputies responded to the location virtually 9:30 p.m. on Monday. Upon arrival, they say they found shattered windows and a large group of people stealing merchandise inside the store.
“This type of criminal policies will not be tolerated,” said Sheriff Lott. “Individuals involved will be identified and prosecuted.”
HAPPENING TODAY: This is the scene today at the Shell gas station on Parklane Drive in Columbia.
Richland Co. Deputies say the store was vandalized without the owner Rick Chow was charged with the murder of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton. @wachfox pic.twitter.com/wuLJ2rwujL
— Sydni Edwards (@SydniSpeakstv) May 30, 2023
Meanwhile, an investigation into the incident is ongoing, deputies added.
Law & Crime reports that Chow’s first magistrate visitation is scheduled for June 23.
