Tragedy, grieving, and community support. That's what the Apex car cash in Odessa experienced Wednesday.
Operations Manager Jaime Flores said they are grieving the loss of their employee after a shooting Tuesday night on their property took two innocent lives.
The shooting happened on the street right behind the car wash.
Flores explained that even though they have several security cameras on the property, the shooting happened just out of camera range.
He said the shooting stings every time it is brought up, even 24 hours later.
Businesses to the left and right of the car wash were closed before the shooting happened.
One business across the street stays open 24-hours but the manager left just 30 minutes before the shooting.
"When we were in the parking lot we didn't see anything, we didn't hear anything, but it had to have just happened," Catfish & Co. Manager Chelsea Crumpley said.
She was with her 12-year-old daughter and feels grateful they left when they did.
"We were pulling out onto 8th street and we saw some police coming from the west," Crumpley said. "We pulled out onto 8th street, turned onto Grandview and several more were coming at that time."
And the feeling in that moment?
"That was super scary. I mean I had my 12-year-old daughter with me last night and we just happened to get stopped in here doing some stuff. I have a feeling that if that wouldn't have happened, we would have been right out there in the middle of the parking lot when all that happened," Crumpley said.
Flores said he's already felt an outpouring of support from the community, specifically from their most loyal customers giving condolences.
He said not only does this double homicide affect their employees, but their customers as well.
MORE STORIES FROM THIS REPORTER:
