OAKLAND — Nearly four months after a liquor store clerk was shot for refusing to lower the price of a $40 bottle of booze, police have arrested a suspect.
A 34-year-old Oakland man was arrested in late September in connection with the June 23 shooting, court records show. He is next due in court for an arraignment hearing on Oct. 16.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged the man with attempted robbery, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and multiple counts of illegal gun possession, court records show. In a police interview, he claimed that he was worried the clerk was pulling a gun on him so he fired his own handgun.
But the clerk’s story — which police say is backed up by surveillance footage — is markedly different. The clerk reported to police that the man shot him three times in the belly during a heated argument over a liquor bottle’s price.
Police said the suspect didn’t bother to the take the bottle with him after shooting the clerk. A second patron who was with the shooter has not been charged, court records show.
The clerk of the store survived the shooting, but required hospitalization, police said. The store is located on the 8900 block of International Boulevard in East Oakland.
