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Store Clerk Murdered; Customers Keep Shopping

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Store Clerk Murdered; Customers Keep Shopping

GARY, Ind. (CBS) ― A 26-year-old convenience store clerk was shot and killed in broad daylight in Gary, Ind., and police say witnesses stood by and did nothing. CBS 2's  Pamela Jones reports there are critical clues that may help crack the case.

Police say one of the four men caught on surveillance video bursting into the clerk's booth at the convenience store was about to commit murder. The video shows a man in red run up an aisle and kick in the door to the booth. Within seconds, the clerk, Gurjeet Singh, was shot in the neck.

"It was senseless. And really all homicides are senseless but what we gather from this, there was very little resistance," said Gary Police Department Commander Anthony Titus. "It didn't have to end the way it did."

But Titus says what's even more senseless is the apparent inaction of bystanders standing near the front door almost the whole time.

Police say there were several customers walking around the store after the crime. But only one called 911 for help.

When asked what he finds most disturbing about the surveillance footage, Titus said, "The fact that people went in and out of the store and didn't call police. There is a man laying there. Nobody thinks to dial 911 or check to see if he's OK or anything."

Police want to talk to people who saw the four men at the mini-mart on 15th and Grant just before 5:20 p.m. Sunday.

At a news conference on Wednesday, community organizers demanded Gary police offer a reward for information about the case. They said the people of Gary needed financial incentive to come forward. Investigators said no reward was planned.

Investigators say two suspects were dressed in black shirts, like one man on the tape who looks to be holding a gun. The other two had red shirts. Police think they were driving a burgundy compact car.

"It's clear enough to the point that if you're familiar with that person, you'd be able to look at it and go, that's someone I know," Titus said.

Investigators hope someone who sees this video will be able to help bring Singh's family some closure. He was doing his job one minute and losing a fight for his life seconds later.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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