Suspect in robbery shot, killed by clerk

Woman was injured in similar incident last month

02/10/2001

By Connie Piloto / The Dallas Morning News

Lisa Liev, still nursing a head wound from a robbery last month, refused to
give in to the demands of a man trying to rob her Old East Dallas liquor
store Friday afternoon.

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As the suspect attempted to jump over the counter, Ms. Liev crouched in a
corner and fatally shot her attacker, police said.

“I’m lucky to be alive,” Ms. Liev, 44, said after the attack. “This is the
second time they try and rob and hit me.”

Ms. Liev was working alone at Johnny’s Cut Rate Liquor in the 4900 block of
Columbia Avenue near Fitzhugh Street when a man walked into the store
shortly after 1 p.m., police said.

The suspect, whose name has not been released because his relatives have
not been notified, died at Baylor University Medical Center at 1:47 p.m.
Friday, police said.

Investigators said he tried to rob Ms. Liev at gunpoint.

“When the robber attempted to shoot her, she fell to the ground,” said Sgt.
Ross Salverino, a supervisor in the homicide unit. “As the robber attempted
to jump the counter, she got the weapon and shot the suspect once.”

Ms. Liev said the suspect fired a shot in her direction as she hid behind a
Texas Lottery kiosk. She suffered a gash on her head during the attack.

After the shooting, Ms. Liev ran outside and locked the front door so the
man wouldn’t get away. She ran into a nearby office and dialed 911.

She was taken to police headquarters for questioning and released. The case
will be forwarded to the Dallas County grand jury, as is routine in
shooting deaths.

Detectives are investigating whether the suspect in Friday’s robbery was
involved in a Jan. 12 robbery at the same store.

In that robbery, someone jumped over the counter and struck Ms. Liev in the
face and on the head while two masked gunmen emptied the cash register and
stole canvas bags filled with coins, a police report said.