Customer shoots, kills hatchet-wielding man in Burien-area convenience store

UPDATE, 4:15 p.m. Monday: The King County medical examiner identified the hatchet-wielding man as Steven Blacktongue, 43. The shooting took place in unincorporated King County, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West.

ORIGINAL STORY: A customer shot and killed a hatchet-wielding man attacking a clerk at a convenience store near Burien early Sunday.

About 5:45 a.m., a masked man about 40 years old walked into a 7-Eleven near South 110th Street and Eighth Avenue South and swung a hatchet at a customer, said King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West. The man then went behind the counter and attacked the 58-year-old clerk, never saying anything.

Within seconds, a customer pulled out a handgun and shot and killed the attacker, likely saving the clerk’s life, West said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 60-year-old customer buys coffee from the store almost every morning, West said, and sits and chats with the clerks. He has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, West said.

The clerk who was attacked told a KIRO 7 reporter that he would have been killed had it not been for the customer. The regular customer is a “very nice” guy, the clerk said.

The clerk has a minor injury on his stomach, West said.

This story was originally published March 13, 2016 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Customer shoots, kills hatchet-wielding man in Burien-area convenience store."