The woman shot inside a 7-Eleven in Cheektowaga on Sunday has died, according to police. They say the victim was a 23-year Cheektowaga resident and was an employee at the store.
The "offender," as termed by police, has also been identified and arraigned.
The Cheektowaga Police Department received a call saying the alleged offender, identified as Travis J. Zukic, 27, was inside the 7-Eleven on French Road with a gun around 11:00 a.m. before then shooting the victim.
The victim was identified Monday as Hannah Morse, 23, of Cheektowaga.
When Zukic tried to leave the store, he was confronted and shot at by police. He was not injured during the incident and was taken into police custody, officers say.
Zukic was arraigned Sunday evening for second-degree murder in Cheektowaga Town Court and taken to the Erie County Holding Center. His next court appearance will be in Cheektowaga Town Court on Thursday, according to police.
On Monday, Cheektowaga police said that while the investigation is ongoing, “it does not appear that this incident was a robbery attempt and there does not appear to be any relation between the victim and the offender.”
Sarah Sarama, who lives near the scene, has been to that 7-Eleven frequently and often chatted with the employees inside.
“That’s just kind of a bit sad and shocking to hear something happened to somebody you see so regularly," Sarama said.
People in the community are saddened to hear this happened so close to home.
“It’s always shocking when it happens anywhere. Unfortunately, we live in a world where you see these things happen from time to time, you don’t want it to happen near you, you don’t want to hear it happening near you, you don’t want to hear it happening to people around you," said Jason Stoklosa, of neighboring West Seneca. "We shop and stop in at the 7-Eleven, it’s people we have in our neighborhood, it’s just unfortunate it happens at all — let alone it [happening] in your neck of the woods."
"We're up there all the time so it's sort of scary, you walk in there you don't think nothing like that could ever happen around here but I guess it can," said Joe Beres, of West Seneca.