Store manager killed in Phoenix Walmart robbery

(CBS News) PHOENIX - A store manager was killed while trying to stop an overnight robbery at a Walmart store.

Police spokesman Sgt. Tommy Thompson said the employee of the west Phoenix Walmart Supercenter was killed shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Thompson said two employees were collecting cash from the store's registers and placing it in a shopping cart when a man with a handgun came up and told them he was robbing them. The gunman grabbed the cart and began pushing it out of the store as other employees were alerted.

CBS Affiliate KPHO reports that Peter Marquez, 47, an assistant manager at the Walmart located on North 75th Avenue, was just outside the store and approached the gunman as the thief left the store with the shopping cart full of cash. The suspect shot Marquez, then escaped after grabbing some cash from the cart.

Marquez was taken to a hospital and died a short time later.

The gunman was last seen heading east into a neighborhood near 75th Avenue and Thomas Road. Police are still looking for him.

Thompson said the gunman is a white or Hispanic man in his 20s to 30s, wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans and dark tennis shoes. He is armed with a handgun and should not be approached, said Thompson.