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Irving police Saturday released the name of a man who was fatally shot Friday afternoon outside a Cash Store. they say 29-year-old Christopher Dew as released months ago from a state prison in Huntsville, after serving 8 years for aggravated robbery.
Police responded to an alarm from the business and arrived to find the suspect in the store. Investigators say the gunman grabbed one of the workers, forced her to go outside with him and they headed toward a vehicle. Police confronted the suspect when he forced the hostage into a vehicle and refused orders to turn her loose and drop his gun. Two officers opened fire, killing the suspect. The hostage wasn't hurt.
Saturday the hostage, who wanted us to identify her only as Cynthia, talked with Fox 4 News about the ordeal inside the Irving Cash Store, where she's worked for the past three years.
"We've had a lot of new customers because it's a busy season right now," Cynthia said. But one of those "customers" turned out to be a man armed with a gun. Cynthia said he initially inquired about a loan, but then told the employees to give him money, and get to the back of the store.
"He just asked who he can trust and I said, 'Me, all the girls there my friends. They're really young. They have babies.' Not that my children mean any less but I just couldn't I just close the door and come out."
Cynthia says the suspect came up with an escape plan.
"He wanted to leave but he couldn't because the parking lot was already full, I don't know what he was thinking at that point. I didn't know what to think either. He just said this is what we're doing. "He told me to grab the money and keys to a car and he put me in the chokehold and took me outside."
Cynthia says the suspect tried to get her to unlock the car door on the passenger side but there was no key hole.
"He's hitting me in the head with the butt of the gun for little bit. So I just kept my head down as much as I could."
Then Cynthia heard a gun shot.
"When I heard the first shot I didn't know if it hit him because he didn't move."
The suspect fell to the ground. Cynthia says the rest is a blur. But she tells me she no doubt owes her life to the Irving officer who pulled the trigger.
"My main goal is to tell the officer who took that shot, "Thank you."