GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Police have surrounded a Grand Rapids home in the search for a suspect in a Wyoming gas station shooting that killed an employee.
Residents who live on Franklin Street SE between Dallas and Geneva avenues are asked to shelter in place, as officers try to determine if the gunman is in a home in the area. Police will help residents safely evacuate, if needed.
"We're working (out of) an overabundance of caution," said Grand Rapids Police Department Chief David Rahinsky.
The shooting happened around 6 a.m. at the Marathon gas station located at the intersection of 28th Street and Buchanan Avenue.
Authorities on scene at the Marathon gas station in Wyoming Monday, May 21, 2018.
A witness told 24 Hour News 8 that she was passing by the gas station when she was flagged down by a man. After she pulled into the gas station, she said she went into the store and found an employee with a gunshot wound.
Wyoming police said the employee was killed.
The owner of the gas station told 24 Hour News 8 that the victim is a 49-year-old mother of two children. He also said he was in the gas station and held at gunpoint. Police originally said the victim was the only person inside.
The gas station will be closed for the rest of the day, the owner said.
Grand Rapids police began setting up a perimeter around a home in the 900 block of Franklin Street SE around 10:45 a.m.
An officer could be heard on a megaphone trying to talk to whomever is in the house, but officers say the inhabitant wasn't responding.
"We believe there is someone in the house, we just don't know who it is at this point," said GRPD Deputy Chief Eric Payne.
Franklin Street is closed between Dallas and Geneva avenues. Drivers are asked to avoid the area and detour onto Eastern or Fuller avenues.
Police say the found a white Cadillac matching the description of the suspect's vehicle near the home, with one person inside. Officers say Wyoming police are questioning that person.
The gunman is described as a black man around 6 feet tall with a slim build. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white strings.
The getaway driver was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and heading northbound on Buchanan Avenue.
Investigators are working to determine if anything was stolen and speak to any possible witnesses.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wyoming Department of Public Safety at 616.530.7300 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345.