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Police shoot and kill man suspected of fatally shooting hero grandmother and Cracker Barrel manager
Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images

Police shoot and kill man suspected of fatally shooting hero grandmother and Cracker Barrel manager

Police officers fatally shot the suspect accused of murdering an elderly Cracker Barrel manager as she attempted to protect one of her employees from being mugged.

What are the details?

Authorities on Sunday night shot and killed a suspect accused of gunning down 59-year-old Robin Baucom, according to reports.

According to the New York Post, undercover deputies from the Harris County, Texas, sheriff’s office were conducting surveillance on the suspect, identified only as a 28-year-old black male, when he left a location and began walking around in public.

Mike Lee, assistant chief with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said deputies approached the suspect and called his name.

Deputies were said to have fired on the suspect upon believing that he was armed.

“He began running from them and as they were chasing them, he made some gestures as if he were pointing a weapon at them. At that time our deputies opened fire ... on the suspect,” Lee said during a press conference.

The suspect was taken to Kingwood Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said that they did not initially recover any firearms after the fatal shooting but are continuing to process the scene.

Sgt. Dennis Wollford of the homicide unit said the as-yet unnamed suspect had two open felony assault warrants.

Live: Updates after person of interest in Cracker Barrel shooting was shot in NE Harris Countywww.youtube.com

Baucom was inside the Houston-area restaurant during the early hours of Saturday morning when she noticed two suspicious men outside the building approaching one of her employees.

One of the suspects reportedly attempted to snatch the employee's purse, and Baucom immediately ran to her aid and unlocked the front door to let the employee inside.

The suspect followed the employee and attempted to force his way inside the building, but Baucom shoved him away from the door.

The suspect then is believed to have fatally shot Baucom, who was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery.

Baucom, however, succumbed to the injuries sustained in the attack.

The two suspects initially fled from the scene of the shooting in a grey Dodge Charger.

Baucom worked at the Cracker Barrel location for 34 years before her death.

In a statement on her passing, Baucom's daughter Tina said that her mother "would have done anything in the world to protect her employees or any of us."

“When I was starting kindergarten, she started at Cracker Barrel part-time. She would buy me back-to-school clothes,” Tina recalled. “It was supposed to be a couple of months. Thirty-four years later, a heartache, and here we are.”

Baucom's brother Billy added, "The greatest love a person can have is giving their life for another person — and that’s exactly what she did. ... She was a protector. Not only with her family but with the ones she worked with. She protected the workers and gave her life for them."

A spokesperson for Cracker Barrel said that the company is solely focused on "supporting our manager's family, her fellow employees, and local law enforcement as we grapple with this tragedy and grieve."

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