The Antelope Valley Times

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Cashier shot, killed during robbery in Lancaster [updated]

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The shooting happened during a robbery at a business on the 44400 block of Division Street in Lancaster, authorities said. [Photo Credit: AV Scanner News]
LANCASTER – Authorities are searching for the suspects who shot and killed a 61-year-old man during a robbery Monday morning in Lancaster.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19, on the 44400 block of Division Street, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

“Homicide detectives arrived on scene and learned the victim was working as a cashier in the convenience store of the business when a robbery occurred,” the news release states.

“There were two male adults in the store when the suspect produced a handgun and fired multiple times at the victim. The victim was struck at least once in the upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene,” the news release states.

The victim’s name has not yet been released pending next of kin notification, but he was a 61-year-old man, the sheriff’s department reported.

“Investigators believe there were two suspects, described as male adults.  There was no further description obtained. The suspects were seen running away from the store in an unknown direction,” the sheriff’s news release states.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.  To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

UPDATE: The victim has been identified as 61-year-old John Ruh, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

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64 comments for "Cashier shot, killed during robbery in Lancaster [updated]"

  1. Its so sad what some people do to get cash. Killing hard working people. My husband got robbed last night by two men. They intersected him while driving. They had guns they asked for the $. Obviously my husband gave everything he had. Now I’m wondering if it can b the some ones from this tragic. Thank god they didn’t shot him. We have a family and that’s all we had.

  2. In light of a human being’s life being lost and apparently …a good-kind man,we seem to sit here and throw verbal bombs at ea other trying to accomplish what ? who has the best view point? or who can insult the other best ? We have an issue today of “right being wrong and wrong right”.Political correctness is Destroying us and our ability to get things done. If you are looking to find a street you need a name. to find a car in a parking lot,a,size or type,ie,truck or convertible,color of car,2 door or 4? to find the suspect is no different. you “slim down” and remove wasted precious time by giving ALL known information available as to invest resources & that time looking in all the right places. Why is it a question as to What does the suspect look like? Why is height,weight, white,red,black,yellow, skinny, average or over weight,bald or harry,clothing style & colors a “PC” issue? Lets get the “Perps” as fast as we can off the streets so this isn’t your family’s story! Let us unite on some things & be kind to ea other even if we believe differently on one’s “right to self defense”. That said…. Cowards like this repeatedly pick schools,convenience stores, banks (minus the armed guards) over convenience stores in AZ,Texas, or armed ”any store” and police stations. The ability to defend one’s self is & has been a right to every living creature on earth. Try getting between mamma and her bear cubs! Does she “have the right” to protect and defend her self and family or just call 911 and wait for the park ranger? Are you more app to speed knowing it’s “A cop free zone” THE answer is YES! Is one… more app to attack the weak and defenseless over one on equal ground? The answer is also Yes!! Go to Rosamonds “Cat House” with your child. The “cat” will pay no attention to you but stalk your smaller-weaker child. I will leave you with this. An 11th grade survivor of Columbine is now in politics. He is actively attempting to get any & all teachers,custodian, librarian,lunch worker trained and capable to carry. Yes in a school with “children” in it. WHY? How many kids could that coach or that young teacher that closed his door (in an attempt to save those kids), saved, if they didn’t have to face that gunman,alone and unarmed, “waiting for 911 to come through”? Then the murder blended into the crowd walking over a mile away? May we be kind to one another and speak with respect, as we may agree to disagree? We all have different ideas on issues. We all live here together. we together ,undivided can and will solve issues when we decide to listen and respect ea other and their ides, come along side ea other with other good ideas and hold our officials accountable for doing nothing but turning them loose in our town to rid them self’s of the problems! Can we come together and agree to vote them all out if the refuse to act an follow our constitution? I am an independent. I don’t believe either of the other two parties have much separation other then the spelling of the name.

    • “lächerliche Rede” is what we say in my country. We must always know the description of the suspect in order to arrest him, prevent this from happening again, punish him for his crime, set an example to society that crime does not pay, file a civil wrongful death case against his assets to compensate the family for their loss and finally to keep statistics as to what race has a problem, find out what is causing the problem, correct the problem, not live next to the problem, prevent the problem from coming into our neighborhood, keep an eye on the problem. Hence your lächerliche Rede sounds like an angry house wife on the Oprah Winfrey show wherein everyone other house wife in the audience applause because the applause sign went on, “lächerliche Rede”

  3. A Majority Of Your Guys Comments Are Ridiculous, Not The Ones Sending Condolences. By All Means. But The Comments Of The Community Needing God And All That Other [removed] Won’t Help. Hire Retired Veterans An Im Positive Crime Rates Would Drop For Sure. That’s A feasible Way Of Doing So . But People In charge Lack Common Sense

  4. Another genetically defective man strikes again by killing an innocent law biding citizen. The killer in this matter could not help what he was doing as he has a propensity for crime. He is genetically defective as very likely is his father. The probability that his father was a criminal is very high. Genetics are aT play here. The real problem is the protection that these genetically defective people receive from their own people. They think they are doing something “Jesus”. But in fact they are hurting their own race by allowing them to procreate and make more genetically defective babies that will also grow up to kill. It does not have to be that way. Just tell the bad boys, no more! You cannot be part of our community, you cannot date my daughter. I do not care that you are the same color. Color means nothing, character is everything. Now get the F..k OUT OF MY HOME.

  5. Jhon was a good friend to alot of people me and my husband new him for years he was a good man always joking around we will miss you we are shocked this happen we would like to do somthing to help his family out anything they need

    • John’s brother is a colleague and a mentor of mine and my heart is breaking for my friend and his family and loved ones.

      I have no doubt John was the kind of man his brother is: hardworking, honest and kind. My sympathy and thoughts go out to the Ruhs’ and all that loved them.

      • On another news source:

        2/19/18 Division street and J (in the city of Lancaster) at the Dairy….male Caucasian adult shot by male black adult inside dairy during possible robbery attempt, suspect is a male black 22 to 27 years old 5’8″” to 5’10 seen wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans suspect also has full beard and was last seen running from location, The male Caucasian was confirmed deceased

  7. My family n i were raised n Lancaster we all knew John…we go to the dairy all the time! John was a very nice man so sweet n funny.. We will c u n the new world a beautiful paradise..where on one will hurt anyone! C u soon!! Johns family b strong.

  8. First off I’m a African-American man and I knew this man who was killed he was a good man he was a man who helped it out his community this man did not have a racist bone in his body he helped everyone in the community I don’t care if the Killer is black white yellow or purple I want to see Justice Done in this case they really kill the good man

  9. And we definitely do not need gun control, if the cashier would have had one, maybe he would have got these two cowards rather then the other way around. It’s unfortunate the world is coming to this , but we who work hard in life and actually use our brains should be able to protect ourselves . The weak will pray on the strong , and the strong has to survive. Hope they catch these murderers!!!

    • If only there had been someone in the parking lot with a grenade launcher!

      Or, maybe we should post mortar teams around the city and whenever there’s a crime in progress they can just rain destruction on the entire area. That would make things so much better.

      Or we could just nuke the whole town. Solve the crime problem for sure.

      • O.K., Tim, that is an absolutely priceless comment. Made my day, for sure. Best comment I’ve read in a long time!

        • Reminded me of May 1985, when the city police in Philadelphia bombed and burned an entire working class neighborhood to extract a few radicals living in one row house.

        • I’m so shocked and hurt. John was the best, and what a blessing it was to know him. Prayers of strength to his family. Bless you John, I’ll miss you so much.

        • Did that not fit into the logic of your “the solution to gun violence is more guns” position? Not that there is a whole lot of logic in your position.

          • Actually your ‘logic’ is crap. Pistols and rifles are point of aim point of impact weapons. Mortars and grenades (let alone nukes) are not. Apples and oranges Tim. A person with a pistol can shoot and kill a murder suspect without damaging anyone or anything else.

          • Sure they can Rambo, sure they can. The number of people who think that a dingbat with a gun and a hero fantasy is a good idea is just astonishing. More people running around shooting at “suspects” (and loud neighbors, and that guy they bumped into in the parking lot, and whoever else catches their fancy) does not make the world a safer or better place.

      • The crime rate is down. Just read the statistical numbers. I want that job… A 100,000 a year to make up phony math and play with my calculater for dumbies…. Where do I apply?

    • Any description beyond ‘two adult males’ would be helpful. I am an adult male but was not involved.

        • Well, the people who want to weave this into their racist narratives don’t know, and they think that they need to. Otherwise how are they going to maintain their hate?

    • So we can keep and eye out. When they don’t mention the race that means they were Black. It doesn’t do any good to say somebody robbed the store. If they were White or Hispaic or Asian they would have said so. For some reason when the suspects are Black they won’t say what race they are. Afraid to use the B world. Some WEIRD PC THING.

  11. Every since Lancaster lost the law suit to Section 8 the crime here and the people that came from below had risen. More killings, robberies etc. I pray they the bastards and send their azzez to hell.Mayor Rex Perry do whatever you have to do whether they’re black, white, red or orange. Take care of this.

  12. He was a good man. I would see him every morning on my way to work to get my 2 Marlboro’s and Mt. Dew. And yes, he would always jokingly add a couple extra zeros to the price. I hope the suspects get what they deserve…cowards.

  13. I don’t know the individual/HUMAN BEING…
    but to take the life of another human is
    not a human act.

  14. Two male adults??? White, hispanic, black, asian? This is getting to a ridiculous point. AV Times using discripters is needed.

  16. To the Mayor of Lancaster,Ca…Need to place an inspector at the end of the Metro. Send the riff back to LA. If you don’t have documentation of business in Lancaster or address, Send them back!

  17. Man i think i know who it is too… funny guy…hed be like thatll be $1000..and it would actually be $1…

        • The only time they leave out the race is when their Black. Why are they so afraid to use the B word? Don’t do any good if they don’t tell us what the suspects look like!!!

          • Then there’s this guy, who can weave things into his racist narrative even without knowing any facts.

          • @Ron suppose they said it was one Caucasian and one African American would you then know who to look for?

        • The suspects cannot be described… They kiiled an innocent man but due to fear of being sued for a thousand reasons in our new world order… We cannot tell you what two murderers look like. A witness said that their eyes saw two men and due to the fact that the witness can see he saw two people a caramel frappacino and an exresso vanilla latte they were sugar free. Sorry to the mans family for the loss… Prayers and maybe a description will be releasrd so people can help identify suspects. Descriptions are not racist. Do you drive through red lights? Your eyes describe what the f you see….

      • What difference do it make, the fact of the matter is someone was murdered by some evil people I could care less if they were pink or green, just find them and lock them up…What would your opinion be it the suspects turns out to have pink and green polka dots… It’s not the color of someone skin that makes them evil it’s stupidity and the fact that they’re heartless…and how about you stop trying to be a problem and be a solution…

  18. Sending my condolences to his family, I didn’t know him personally, but judging by the comments he was a great man…It deeply sadden me when I hear of tragedies such as this, I will never understand why heartless people choose to rob someone let alone take their life for $$$…Can’t wait to hear the announcement of the arrest of these heartless demons…Rest in Paradise John

  19. He called my kids goobers nd he gave them suckers all the time. I cant even go there anymore. My heart hurts. He helped the homeless people. He was a light in the morning. And everytime i talked to him. God please stregthen his Wife. Indeed he did not deserve this. I am truly sickened. I break out in tears writing this because, We as a community have to strengthen our bomd with God. TO HELP OUR PEOPLE BECOME MORE COMPASSIONATE AND LOVING. This is a disgrace and a torment to our younger generation. You can not even got to work with out having the thought that you might get killed while dking it. Rest in Peace John. You are with God now. We dont understand BUT GOD JESUS CHRIST DOES.

  20. I have been living in the Antelope Valley since 1995, and things like this was unheard of. God please bless our town with compassion and too value all life. We have to do better. Amen

  23. As sad as this is i doubt those lazy deputies will find anything. Those pigs are only interested in collecting from the public and protecting their own interest. I say we fire 1/3 of them and replace them with a competent department. Bunch of overpaid, underworked scumbags.

  24. I can believe this….I have been knowing that man for years he has came a long ways he was so happy to get that job he always made my day…..this really sad….

  25. It’s time to take our city back, from decades of upward spiraling out of control crimes. While northern L.A. County has led the State in all aspects of crime. A good man lost his life today for what? I’d bet less than 100$. It’s time to hold our City’s Administrators accountable, for turning a deaf ear towards those in legit need of compassionate assistance. It’s time to hold our Mayor accountable for this city’s out of control crime. While this admin has done nothing but offend those with legitimate needs for help, by ignoring and threatening a problem they have had no solutions for or towards; and have blatantly shown a remorse for the homeless, with zero resolutions to improve the health and mental well being of this city. Our city’s admin have used the city as their own playground, and turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the signs of the times. The millions of dollars spent to remodel the Blvd, for the benefit of a few, has come at a cost to those who could have used such funds, for training programs and providing skill sets for those less fortunate.

    Our Sheriff Deputies have done the best they can with the fine men and women on the streets, doing their best to “protect and serve”. Until the City of Lancaster pulls together in a concerted effort, to get the majority of registered Voters to the Polls, in lieu of the few who actually do vote; only for their cronies, this city will continue to flush itself down the drain, for the benefit of a few wealthy officials. Officials who have no clue what or how cities are built, as working models of integrity, compassion, and justice for all. Until this city rids itself of the cronyism politics, we will be forever damned with this kind of senseless violence, perpetrated against the hard working men and women, who can’t hide within city hall. There is no Utopia, but here is a classic case of a few admins, who have turned a blind eye to the plight of a city in decay from within.

  26. Right he was a nice man I use to go to the drive thru almost every morning he was a kind man he had a good heart my condolences goes out to his wife and family i hope they catch the sick males who did this stole his life for nothing they could’ve robbed it and got on why kill or even harm him he was harmless just doing his job as always Rip John you use to tell me just get this one they want you to spend extra for the same thing lol wow sad story…..

  27. My deepest condolences go out to John’s family. He was a sweet man and was always kind to me. My heart truly breaks for John and his family. He didn’t deserve this. I hope the guys who did this spend the rest of their lives suffering in prison. This is so wrong. I hope his family knows that he was a bright spot in many peoples days, including mine. He won’t be forgotten.

  28. I’m vastly saddened about this story. I’ve been in Lancaster for 19 years now and dont believe i’ve ever encountered the victim but nonetheless empathize with those who knew and loved him on a personal level.
    I’ve lost a loved one due to gun violence so I can relate.
    These people who’re responsible just dont understand the level of pain and grief they cause when they pull those triggers and I hate that.

    Rest in Peace

  29. What is wrong with you low life scum bags ? Put that gun down and lets see how far you can rob people ! God will get in the long run you will rot hell losers ! Go back to L.A. !!!!
    Rip to nice man doing his job

  30. That’s so sad. He was such a sweet man. I would go there every morning and we would chat. RIP kind man.

  31. Is this the old white guy or the old black man. No matter what both of them was so nice. It’s so sad

  32. I stop in over there every so often, top off my supercharged two-seater, with their Streetblaze 101 octane. Expensive stuff. Sure makes the car run great. Real nice looking older woman who owned the place had cameras all over. County cameras and license plate scanners, all up and down Division Street, depending on their workload, how much media attention this gathers, fusion center analysts ought have the perpetrators tracked down within the week. Were the cashier someone important, not just some old working class slob, those fusion center boys would otherwise had the punks’ heads bagged, 5 minutes. If that.

  34. All these LA people are coming out here smh stay where you are this use to be a good place to live not anymore.

  35. He was a good person. Family friend to me and my husband for years. Practically a family member. How dare this happen to him. This is someone’s husband, dad and grand dad and good friend to many… You wil be greatly missed. RIP