A clerk at a Laurel mobile phone store was shot four to six times during an attempted robbery yesterday and died several hours later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said.
A Shock Trauma nursing coordinator said Angelia K. Hamilton, 22, died in surgery at 6:18 p.m.
She was shot by a man who walked into the Car Tel Phones store in the 3400 block of Laurel Fort Meade Road just after noon and asked to see car phones, Anne Arundel County police said.
Shortly after the shooting, Mrs. Hamilton was able to tell police that she was opening a display case when the bandit pulled out a gun and began shooting. The man ran from the store without taking any merchandise or money.
A manager and other employees were in the store in the Maryland City Plaza at the time of the shooting, but were not harmed, police said.
Witnesses told police that the man ran toward the back of a nearby 7-Eleven.
About 20 minutes later, an officer said he saw a man fitting the description of the gunman near the intersection of Marcy Creek and Indian Springs roads in Laurel Highlands, talking to the driver of a car.
The officer chased the suspect, who disappeared behind a nearby townhouse. Police are not certain whether the car was used in the escape or if the suspect was trying to steal it.
Police are looking for a black male in his 20s, 5-feet, 8-inches tall, with a thin mustache, possibly a goatee. He was wearing a black baseball cap, a blue or black hooded sweat shirt and baggy blue jeans.
Police also are looking for a man who may have witnessed the shooting. The man is a white male, 50 to 55 years old, about 6-foot 3-inches to 6-foot 8-inches tall. Police say the man told a woman not to go behind the 7-Eleven because there was a man outside with a gun.
Police say they don't know of a motive for the shooting, but they are calling it an attempted robbery.
A nearby merchant, however, said he doesn't think the motive was robbery.
"That place normally doesn't have money," said Scott Schiller, owner of Packaging Plus, also in the shopping center.
Mr. Schiller said Mrs. Hamilton had been working at the store for 1 1/2 to 2 years, and described her as a "sweet girl."
Police said Mrs. Hamilton, originally from Oklahoma, was married and lived in Laurel.
Anyone with information on the shooting should contact Anne Arundel County police at 222-3461.