Detectives obtained an arrest warrant Monday for a hospitalized man in Crystal River who was suspected of two hold-ups at a Gainesville Chevron.
Aaron Rooks, 30, is being treated for a gunshot wound to the chest, which police believe he received while trying to rob the Chevron station at 3328 W. University Ave. on Sunday evening.
According to a Gainesville Police report, a man entered the Chevron station at 7:15 p.m. Saturday and demanded money. He pointed a small black semi-automatic handgun in the clerk's face and fired one round of bullets into the cigarette display case.
The clerk took out a compact .380 handgun from his left pocket and shot the suspect in the chest at point-blank range, said GPD spokeswoman Summer Hallett.
According to the report, the man then fled the scene while shooting bullets into the parking lot of the gas station.
"The state statute allowed the clerk to defend himself with a weapon," Hallett said, referring to the clerk shooting the suspect. "He also has a concealed weapon permit."
After searching for the man for two hours and informing hospitals in the area of the situation, Hallet said GPD received a call from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office saying a hospital in Crystal River had a gunshot victim.
Rooks told hospital officials he had been injured from "a drug deal gone bad," the report stated.
"We will wait until he is discharged from the hospital to arrest him," Hallett said. "He will probably be taken to the Citrus County jail, and we will then go pick him up."
The report said Rooks is also suspected of robbing the same Chevron station Saturday night.
In that case, the report stated a man had leaned into the register window with a small black semi-automatic handgun and told the clerk to give him the cash in the register.
Detectives have a warrant to arrest Rooks on charges of attempted murder, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and two counts of robbery with a firearm.
