Neighbors back store's owner

Friends of liquor store owner Charles Kellogg said Wednesday he is having a difficult time coming to terms with taking a life.

Tuesday night, the 74-yearold shot to death a young man police say tried to rob the store owner at gunpoint. Wednesday morning, a steady stream of friends and customers came by his store to show their support. Kellogg declined to comment.

“He’s struggling. He’s a human being, and he tried to protect his own life,” said Mario Sigala, who works at Sigala Master Barber, a few doors down from Kellogg’s liquor store in southeast Colorado Springs.

“He told me, ‘I didn’t get into a liquor store to take someone’s life,’” Sigala said.

The alleged robber was identified Wednesday as Gibran Gayton, 21, of Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs police said he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

According to police, at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, Gayton entered Jet-Way Liquors at 1645 Jet Wing Drive, drew a gun and demanded cash. The store owner shot Gayton once, and he died at Memorial Hospital.

Court records show Gayton was arrested in May on suspicion of motor vehicle theft, a charge that was later dropped. Police said robbery detectives are investigating whether he was involved in any other robberies.

Police offered few new details Wednesday about the shooting and would not release the store owner’s name because his age makes him an at-risk adult under state law. But city liquor enforcement documents and neighboring business owners confirmed Kellogg’s identity.

Sigala said Kellogg was planning to sell the store and retire, and the sale was supposed to be finalized this week. But the buyer backed out Wednesday after learning of the shooting, Sigala said.

He said Kellogg is a former Detroit police officer, though the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards could not confirm that Wednesday. He has had the liquor store for more than 20 years, Sigala said.

Kellogg has not been arrested. Under Colorado law, workers in businesses are allowed to protect themselves from imminent injury.

Police spokesman Lt. Skip Arms said the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will make the determination as to whether Kellogg should be charged. Prosecutors expect to begin looking at the case next week at the earliest.

Sigala and other business owners say Kellogg did the right thing.

“If somebody tried to rob you with some type of weapon, it’s self-defense,” said Young Shin, owner of True Urban, a clothes store in the same shopping center. “I think he did right.”

Said Sigala: “The gun was on him and he had a window of opportunity and he had to take it.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or scott.rappold@gazette.com