COLERAIN TOWNSHIP — Police continued to look for a connection between a man killed inside a convenience store Saturday and the unidentified man who shot him.

Security camera image of gunman entering the Sunoco Food Mart. | ZOOM |

        They also are looking for information about two vehicles seen near the store at the time of the shooting.

        Richard Hightower, 47, was shot and killed by a masked man who confronted him in the Sunoco Food Mart near his Colerain Township home.

        “They're trying to identify the owner/operator of a light blue minivan, possibly a Plymouth Voyager or a Dodge Caravan,” said Hamilton County sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett. “It was on the surveillance video (seconds) after the shooting. That could be a witness, it could be somebody just cutting through.”

Hightower

        The video also shows a dark blue two-door sports car pulling up to the store's front door as the shooting was happening.

        Authorities hope people in the vehicles might help shed some light on the killing, details of which remain sketchy.

        Police say Mr. Hightower was at a small counter in the store with several other customers and employees when the masked man armed with a black semiautomatic handgun entered the business about 8 p.m. Saturday.

        “The shooter appeared to walk directly to (Mr. Hightower),” Mr. Barnett said. “They had a little altercation. The victim (stands) up. ... He ends up getting pushed backwards and gets shot.”

        The gunman was described as black, age 17-25, 5-feet-10 to 6 feet tall and 150-160 pounds. He was wearing a black hooded sweat shirt and a scarf over his nose and lower part of his face. The store's surveillance camera gives a clear image of the shooter, but his face cannot be seen because of the scarf, Mr. Barnett said.

        Nothing was stolen and nobody else was hurt.

        “There is no evidence at this point to indicate it was a robbery,” Mr. Barnett said. “What the exact motive is is unknown at this time.

        “Why (the shooter) focused on him, we don't know at this point.”
               Anyone with information should call the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 825-1500 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

        Monday story: Customer shot dead at Sunoco mart

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