BALTIMORE — Business owners in Northeast Baltimore are speaking out about how they’re trying to help keep customers safe.
This comes after a man was murdered inside a BP gas station. On December 11, 56-year-old Al Stevenson was shot in the head while waiting be serviced at the gas station near Havenwood Road and Loch Raven Blvd.
Since then, people in the community said they want the business to be shut down. But now, business owners like Kash Khan are speaking out.
“We got a call, saying that there was a shooting here, we came down here. The guys came from the back wall, and then came up here and kind of used some automatic weapons and then in three seconds they were gone,” Khan said.
It’s been one week and one day since Stevenson was murdered, and a 22-year-old was shot inside a BP gas station. Last Saturday, loved ones organized a vigil for Stevens right outside that gas station, and some of them along with people from the community, said they believe the gas station needs to be closed for good.
“I don’t think that shutting down a business, it doesn’t help anybody, it doesn’t help the community, it doesn’t help the businesses, we need to work together with the community and get stringent laws,” Khan said.
The people asking for the closure of the gas station sited the fact that police documents show more than 80 calls for service were made to that location within the last 90 days. Most of the calls were for disorderly persons. However, Khan said he and his co-owners were responsible for most of the calls.
“Six or seven times a day about the same incident where the guys might be hanging around or going away or panhandling. So those are the calls that were made, it doesn’t really paint a true picture,” Khan said.
Khan also said in the last few years they’ve even added additional security measures to help keep customers and employees safe.
“If you look at three years ago, there was no private security, we’ve actually added that. We’ve added multiple cameras. We also provide direct access of our surveillance system to the police department, most businesses don’t do that,” Khan said.
He also said they will continue to do everything in their capacity to prevent this from happening to anyone else on their property.
“We don’t want any type of crime to be happening here, therefore we have done everything we can. Proposing a shut down on the business is not the answer,” Khan said.
Khan and his co-owners of the family business also expressed their deep condolences to Stevenson’s family.
In addition, they closed the gas station on Saturday during that vigil and they also added an additional $5,000 dollars for a reward for anyone who can help lead police to the killer.
On Jan. 25, 2023, a hearing shall be held before the Police Commissioner for Baltimore City, or the Commissioner’s designee, to determine if the gas station is a “public nuisance,” and whether the property should be closed.
