STAR, N.C. — In the quiet town of Star, North Carolina – everyone knows everyone.
53-year-old Laura Whitman wasn’t new to the town. But she was new to the job.
Saturday night was one of her first shifts as the clerk at the Quik Chek on South Main Street.
Police said shortly after 10 p.m., a suspect robbed the store and shot Whitman to death.
“We have retrieved the video surveillance from inside the store. You can see some talking. We don’t know what was said. It appeared that the clerk was very compliant. The suspect pulled out a gun, jumped across the counter, came back there, she opened the door, he took some money, and then he shot her and took some more money and then left,” Star Chief of Police, David Kime, said.
The store remains closed. Flowers were placed outside the door to honor Whitman.
Whitman’s daughter, Courtney Rodriguez, can’t believe someone did this to her mom.
“My mom was pretty much a sweet woman. She was a woman that you could ask for something and she would give it to you. She would give you a shirt off her back, you know. She would always. She was very caring,” Rodriguez said.
She said she hopes to see justice for her mom soon.
“I just hope they catch him because he doesn’t need to be out. He doesn’t need to be free. He doesn’t deserve to be free,” Rodriguez said.
An arrest still hasn’t been made.
Biscoe Police Department said they are working with the Star Police Department to solve the shooting, along with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
If you have any information, please contact Biscoe Police Department or Star Police Department at 910-428-9224.