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Second victim sues after being locked in Detroit gas station by clerk during triple shooting

By Veronica Meadows and David Komer
Published  July 10, 2023 7:50pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Second lawsuit filed in triple shooting at Detroit gas station where clerk locked the door

Three people were shot -- one of them died. Now both surviving victims are suing Exxon Mobile-- alleging gross negligence. The lawsuit is for $150 million against the gas station and the owners.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Surveillance video of a May shooting inside a gas station in Detroit showed a customer opening fire -- after being locked inside the store by the clerk.

Three people were shot -- one of them died. Now both surviving victims are suing Exxon Mobile alleging gross negligence. The lawsuit is for $150 million against the gas station and the owners.

This all happened at the gas station on McNichols near the lodge on Detroit's west side. Attorneys say the clerk locked the doors after the suspect, Samuel McRae, threatened to steal $4 worth of items. Then prosecutors say McRae opened fire, killing one man and wounding two other people.

One of those two survivors is David Langston who was shot three times - in the hand, side, and back. He said he has had multiple surgeries, suffers from constant pain, and is unable to work.

Langston's attorney says the clerk should have never locked the door. The lawsuit adds that the gas station owners were negligent in training and supervising their employees.

"There's plenty of nights I can’t sleep," Langston said. "I’m in pain all the time. I don’t smile really. I don’t even know how to be happy right now, I really can’t talk. I am just sad."

"There is no basis to imprison this gentleman. He hadn’t done anything wrong," said Attorney Michael Fortner, Spectrum Legal Services. "There was no authority for that, no basis for it, and no justification for it."

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The suspect, McRae, is charged with murder, and the clerk, Al-Hassan Aiyashm, is charged with involuntary manslaughter.

"I can only imagine the terror that (Langston) went through," said Attorney Vonda Evans. "I believe the lawsuit is necessary to bring accountability to training practices throughout the city, through the state."

Exxon Mobile said in a statement it extends its deepest sympathies to the victims of the shooting, saying it did not own, operate or control that specific gas station because it is a franchise.