CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE: A Marathon gas station clerk, was shot and killed during a robbery in the East Garfield Park neighborhood early Friday morning.
Police said Baker Farhat, of the 7800 block of Rutherford Avenue in Burbank, was shot in the head at around 4 a.m.
Farhat, who is in his 30s, was working at the Marathon gas station near 100 North Homan on the West Side when the armed robbery took place.
Employees say police told them Baker Farhat handed over the money but was shot in the head anyway.
Farhat was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Police spent hours on the scene, taking photographs, dusting for fingerprints and viewing surveillance video, taken inside and outside the Marathon Gas station at Homan and Washington.
A cashier who works with the victim - but was not present during the robbery - said that there are surveillance cameras inside and outside the store, and there are occasionally security guards on duty.
Taser Uodin said the door is not usually locked overnight. Customers can enter at any time. Thursday night was the security guard's only day off this week.
Uodin had just ended his shift around 3 a.m. and left only 30 minutes before the shooting.
The co-worker said that they usually cross over at that time of the morning. Farhat's shift usually began at about 4 a.m. His co-worker usually stays with him until dawn before leaving.
But Uodin said Farhat told him to go home because it's Ramadan, and he wanted the co-worker to spend time with his family.
His coworker said he wanted to get food so they could share it together, but did not get the chance.
Farhat was very well liked in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. All the cashiers said they know it can be a dangerous place, but they felt like their customers were like family to them.
They trusted their customers. That's the way Farhat operated.
Area North detectives are still looking for suspects.
Farhat is survived by his wife and two children, who live in Jerusalem.
