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Clerk killed at Wheat Ridge convenience store, suspect arrested in Indiana

Wheat Ridge murder at gas station jan 5 2023
Posted at 8:41 AM, Jan 06, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-09 07:17:53-05

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — A clerk was killed inside a convenience store in Wheat Ridge on Thursday evening and the suspect was arrested in Indiana Friday morning.

Around 8 p.m. Thursday, officers with the Wheat Ridge Police Department were called to a Valero gas station and convenience store along the 12300 block of W. 44th Avenue after it received a report of suspicious activity.

When officers arrived, they found the clerk, who owns the store, deceased. He was identified as Veshraj Lamichhane, a father of four who was the sole provider for the family, by the Non-Resident Nepali Association on Friday. A GoFundMe was started to help support his family.

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Police found video surveillance for the store, which showed that a suspect attacked the clerk, shot and killed him. The suspect fled in the clerk's vehicle, which was a gray 2015 Nissan Pathfinder, according to police and Indiana State Police.

The Wheat Ridge Police Department issued a nationwide Be On The Lookout (BOLO) alert for all law enforcement agencies.

On Friday morning, the Indiana State Police recognized the vehicle in the BOLO in Posey County along Interstate 64 and started to pursue the driver. The suspect was speeding east and exited onto State Road 165 and then west on County Road 1000 South.

The driver reached 90 mph and then lost control of the car, which went off the road and rolled several times, according to Indiana State Police. It stopped in an open field.

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State police took the suspect, who was not injured, into custody around 10 a.m. MT, according to Wheat Ridge police.

Indiana State Police identified the suspect as Shawnathan Deangelo Chance, 26, of Dunn, North Carolina. He was arrested on probable cause for homicide, resisting law enforcement, reckless driving and possession of a stolen vehicle, and was transported to the Posey County Jail.

Wheat Ridge police spokesperson Joanna Small said it is not clear if the suspect and victim knew each other.