Feb 10, 2007 2:36 am US/Pacific
Employee Killed In Tustin Home Depot Robbery
TUSTIN, Calif. (CBS) ―
A suspect who entered a Home Depot store dressed in a painter's jumpsuit held up a cashier Friday before shooting and killing an employee and fleeing, police said.
The shooting at the store at 2782 El Camino Real in the Tustin Marketplace shopping center was reported at 10:02 a.m.
Tustin police Sgt. Jeff Blair said the suspect, "disguised as a painter," was in the process of robbing a cashier when the store's night operation's manager, 40-year-old Tom Egan, confronted the suspect, who opened fire.
"Without provocation, the gunman turned and shot the employee once in the torso, at least one time, and continued on with the robbery, exiting out in the front to a waiting getaway car driven by a second suspect dressed in possibly a similar disguise," Blair said.
Egan, a 13-year employee of the company, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he later died.
The suspect ran out of the store with a black bag and dropped some money before getting away in a silver Ford Windstar van, according to eyewitnesses.
Friday afternoon, Home Depot announced a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to arrest and conviction of the suspects.
"Tom was respected and admired by his colleagues for his spirit and energy on the job as well as his work in numerous community service projects in the local area," Bruce Merino, president of the company's western division,
said in a statement.
"We extend our condolences to his family and friends and plan to honor his memory in a special way," he said. "The company is working to comfort and console the associates who worked with Tom in their time of sadness and grief."
Merino said the company is cooperating fully with police.
The getaway minivan was last seen driving east on El Camino Real toward Jamboree Road, Blair said. It's described as light in color, possibly white, silver or gray with a roof rack, a sunroof and a removed rear license plate.
Egan was married and had twin daughters, said Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher.
Between 1984 and 1992, Egan was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he transferred to the Tustin store in January, she said.
"He was a very dedicated worker and took a lot of pride and passion with his job," Gallagher said.
The night crew, which takes care of stocking and readying the store for the daylight hours, usually gets off at 6 a.m., and it was possible Egan had been was scheduled to get off at that time but stayed later, she said.
The employee being robbed was a woman, Gallagher said.
"He basically came to the aid of that woman," Gallagher said.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
