ST CHARLES, Mo. — A person accused of armed robbery was shot and killed by a customer of a gas station in St. Charles early Saturday morning.
A news release sent out by the St. Charles Police Department Saturday morning detailed the incident, citing a " violent crime spree" throughout St. Charles led by the suspect, a 26-year-old man from St. Louis City.
The suspect was identified by St. Charles police Sunday as Lance Bush.
Timeline of events
According to the release, at 2:58 a.m. an armed robbery occurred at the Mobil On The Run gas station located at 1401 South Fifth Street in St. Charles. Bush allegedly entered the station armed with a knife and threatened the store clerk with the knife. Police said Bush made the clerk open the cash register, stole the money in the register and pushed the clerk to the ground.
Bush then reportedly dragged the clerk to the back of the store asking her to show him the safe, the release outlined. The clerk was unable to open the safe and was reportedly dragged back to the front counter. The clerk, according to the release, opened a second cash register "to stop the assault on her."
Bush stole the money from the second register and fled the store in a black SUV. The clerk was treated for non-life threatening lacerations left from the knife and was taken to a hospital for treatment, St. Charles police said.
When St. Charles police were on the way to the scene of the armed robbery, they received a call at 3:14 a.m. for an alarm at the Philips 66 located at 524 First Capitol Drive. Officers found broken glass "indicating a burglary had just taken place," said the release.
As the second incident was being investigated, a 3:20 a.m. report of another armed robbery and shots fired at the QuikTrip located at 2260 First Capitol Drive was called in.
At the QuikTrip
According to the release, when officers arrived at the QuikTrip, they found Bush, who had been shot by a customer armed with a gun, who police say witnessed the armed robbery. Bush was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
The customer, a 26-year-old man also from St. Louis, told police after the events that he had stopped at the QuikTrip and was walking back to his car parked in front of the building when a black SUV pulled into the lot "abruptly" according to the release.
St. Charles police said in the release the customer witnessed Bush leave the SUV with a backpack and enter the QuikTrip where he threatened a clerk with a knife at her throat.
The customer then grabbed his handgun, entered the QuikTrip and confronted Bush, according to the release.
The release said the suspect, Bush, allegedly grabbed his backpack and said to the customer "I have something for you," and approached the customer from behind the front counter. The customer the shot at Bush "several times," until the he fell on the floor. Both the customer and the clerk then called 911. Neither person was injured.
The suspect's black SUV was later found to have been stolen Friday from Maryland Heights. Police said items stolen from the Phillips 66 gas station were found in the vehicle.
St. Charles police believe Bush is tied to all three gas station incidents. According to police, Bush was homeless at the time of the robberies.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the St. Charles Police Department at 636-949-3300.
This is a developing story. Information will be updated as it is confirmed.
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