Neighbors demand justice after Detroit gas station clerk kills customer

DETROIT (WJBK) - The people in one Detroit neighborhood are demanding justice after a clerk shot and killed an unarmed customer inside a gas station Sunday afternoon.

The shooting happened around 3:45 p.m. Sunday at the Citgo gas station on the corner of McNichols and Southfield.  

The Citgo gas station at Six Mile and Southfield was closed on Monday, one day after the shooting. The accused shooter, 26-year-old Rami Ali Jaber, is accused of coming from behind the bulletproof glass and shooting and killing 34-year-old Derek Roberts after an argument.

Ashley Logan was friends with Roberts for 15 years.

"It makes no sense. On Mother's Day, you took someone's child for no reason. He was not armed, he's not dangerous, he's not a harm to anybody," she said. 

Police say the shooting was caught on surveillance cameras, and that Jaber called 911 after the shooting. He was arrested without incident and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of first degree murder and felony firearm. Local activists are speaking out and calling on other gas stations and all businesses to join them in condemning the attack.

"No proprietor or employee would come from behind the counter to engage a customer. I can only think that this is a case of, if you're black you better get back," Rev. David Bullock with the Change Agent Consortium said.

Bullock says they want this gas station to remain closed indefinitely. He says it they try to reopen they will protest or even boycott.

"This happens all the time. Today, we say enough; we're not going to take it. We're not going to stand by and just rally. We're going to go where we have to go and do what we have to do that this never happens again," Brenda Hill said.