Senseless murder of convenience-store worker haunts friends, family

Friends and family of a Madera County convenience store worker murdered Monday night are devastated by what seems a senseless killing, the owner of the Tackle Box said Thursday.

Two men robbed 20-year-old Dharampreet Singh Jassar, known to friends as Veer, on Monday night before one man fatally shot him as the suspects left the Tackle Box store just outside Madera city limits. They took a few big boxes of cigarettes and some cash, but left some money at the store.

Armitraj Singh Athwal, 22, of Modesto, is in custody for the slaying after he was stopped by a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy a short time after the shooting. A second suspect remains at large.

Jassar had been in the United States about a year and a half, and was studying accounting, according to Pete Nijjar, owner of the store. Jassar had worked at the store about two months and was a good employee who was popular with customers, Nijjar said.

“He was brilliant, a cheerful friend to customers,” added Nijjar.

Veer’s parents are in India, but his grandparents are in the United States.

Nijjar said it was especially hurtful that it appeared Veer was killed by a fellow member of the Indian community.

‘”This is not possible,’” the store owner remembers saying when he heard about the arrest of Athwal. “Disbelief,” was how he characterized his immediate reaction to what he called a “heinous crime.”

“I’ve been here 25 years, and I’ve never heard of any incident like this before.”

Services for Veer are pending. An online page to financially assist his family can be found at GoFundMe.

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Senseless murder of convenience-store worker haunts friends, family."