Gunman still sought in Durham tire store shooting

Authorities continued to follow leads Monday in a Friday afternoon shooting at a Durham tire store that left two people dead and two others in the hospital.

Naomi Wright, 65, was at the front desk of J.T. Tire, at 2202 E. Geer St., when a man came in and started shooting, authorities said. Wright and Abdelgadir Mergany Abdelganir, 32, a cab driver who was at the shop to get a tire fixed, were both killed.

Store employee Terry Shaw, 51, and customer Javier Ramirez remain hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Shaw was in stable condition Monday, and Ramirez was critical but stable.

Investigators spent the weekend sifting through tips and interviewing the dozen or witnesses who were in the store and others, said Maj. Paul Martin of the Durham County Sheriff's Office, who noted he has slept only about six hours in the past two days.

"We’ve received information that we can corroborate, which is very good for the investigation," Martin said.

The gunman was described as a black man, about 6 feet tall, with a tattoo on the left side of his face. He was wearing a brightly colored T-shirt and reportedly fled the scene in a silver sedan.

Martin declined to say whether investigators have developed a more thorough description or whether there was any security video in the shop or nearby.

"We are trying to do a very thorough investigation, so we just don’t want to say there is one suspect at this time,” he said.

J.T. Tire was closed Monday, but an informal memorial was outside the shop.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200 or email durham.crimestoppers@durhamnc.gov.