Texas store owner guns down man who tries to leave without paying for beer

A Texas store owner was charged with murder over the weekend after he fatally shot a man who was allegedly walking out without paying for beer.

According to Corpus Christi police, the unnamed 39-year old victim was shot multiple times -- including at least one blast to the head -- on Saturday night by 51-year-old Rodney Duve, the owner of Duve's Quick Stop. The victim, who KRIS-TV described as a "known gang member," was reportedly walking out the door when he was killed.

"He didn't have to shoot the person for two cases of beer," a neighbor told KRIS-TV. "A life doesn't equal two cases of beer."

"On occasion when I came in [to the store], I saw him in a rage, a scary rage," the neighbor said of Duve. "I don't think it's a reason to take someone's life for two cases of beer when the person was almost outside."

But not everyone agrees that Duve was in the wrong.

"Texas is supposed to be the land of lax gun laws but the police have been quick to throw all the blame at a man who was simply trying to protect his business," Stephen Kersey of the "boys club" blog Every Joe wrote. "Don’t want to get shot? Don’t be a thief. It’s that simple. Be a useful part of society and you won’t have to be worried."

The Daily Mail reported that Duve was being held at the Nueces County Jail in lieu of a $35,000 bond.

Watch the video below from KRIS, broadcast Sept. 29, 2013.

(h/t: Gawker)