Gas War Turns Deadly in Detroit

Nov. 16, 2007 — -- A simmering feud over prices between neighboring gas station owners in Detroit turned fatal this morning as one man shot and killed the other during a confrontation outside one of the stations, police said.

Police originally responded to a call about an assault in progress with a bat and a pipe outside a local Marathon gas station, Sgt. Eren Stephens Bell, a spokeswoman for the Detroit police, told ABC News.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found that one station owner had been shot. He was transported to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival, Bell said.

"The shooter is in police custody," Bell said, adding that charges had not yet been filed against the alleged gunman and that the investigation was ongoing. Police didn't release the names of either of the gas station owners.

ABC News' Detroit affiliate WXYZ reported that this morning's confrontation began as two employees of a Marathon station were manually changing the gas prices on the station's board to $2.93 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline -- 3 cents a gallon less than the competing BP gas station next door.

As the two Marathon employees, including the station's 51-year-old owner, made the change, they were approached by two workers from the BP. One of those men was the competing station's 45-year-old owner, reportedly a father of five.

Someone brandished a bat, according to the WXYZ report, before the owner went inside the Marathon shop, retrieved a gun and shot the BP owner multiple times.

As police investigated the crime scene, BP then raised its price for a regular gallon of unleaded gas from $2.96 to $3.09.

Witnesses told WXYZ that the two owners had been involved in an ongoing price war to compete for business as the cost of gasoline has continued to rise.