Neighbors shocked by killing of North Side convenience store worker

Makansinh Udavat 1 of 3 people shot in string of late-night crimes

SAN ANTONIO – People who live near a North Side convenience store where a worker was shot and killed and his wife was wounded said they are shocked by the violence.

The shootings happened during a string of crimes possibly committed by one man on the North and Northwest sides of town Monday night, San Antonio police said.

Officer Douglas Greene, a police spokesman, said it appeared the crime spree started around 10 p.m. and included nearly a half-dozen calls regarding shootings, robberies and a carjacking.

"I peeked out and I see all these cops rolling by, so I started walking to the store," said Mark Hernandez, who lives around the corner from the store.

The shooting of the couple was one of the last calls police received that may have been related to the string of crimes.

Greene said Makansinh Udavat, 61, and his wife, who both work at the convenience store, were trying to stop the gunman from entering.

"Both victims were trying to hold the door shut and preventing the suspect to get inside the store," Greene said. "That suspect managed to open the door. He shot both victims point blank in the chest."

Udavat died later at a hospital. His wife was last listed in critical condition.

Police said the car that the gunman used to get away matched the description of one taken during a reported carjacking a short time before that. In that incident, a 17-year-old girl told police she was sitting in a parking lot in the 2400 block of West Avenue when a gunman walked up and demanded her car.

Greene said they also have tied the same gunman to the robbery of a woman on Sacramento Street near the convenience store.

Hilda Compean said her niece was the victim in the robbery She said that a man held a gun to her niece's head and stole her purse as she stepped out of her car with her baby in her arms. Compean and other neighbors said the robbery happened right after the deadly shooting.

Police are also investigating whether the same person may be responsible for another shooting in the 200 block of Viendo.

According to a police report, a man told officers he was sitting in his truck when two other men approached him and began yelling. He said one of the men shot him, wounding him in his face and back, the report said.

Another person reported being robbed at gunpoint around the same time in the area of Huisache Avenue and Interstate 10, police said.

There are some similarities to the incidents due to descriptions that were given for the suspects in many of the cases, Greene said.

In the cases of the convenience store shootings, carjacking and Sacramento Street robbery, Greene said investigators feel certain there's a connection. 

Officers searched the area for the man but he managed to get away. He was last seen driving the stolen 2004 silver Kia Amanti with Texas license plate FPG 7228.

Anyone with information about any of the crimes is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (7867).


About the Author:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.