A Life is Worth 3 Cents (Murder for Profit at the Pump)

Gar War MurderIn a war over gas prices, the seemingly petty back-and-forth bickering between two rival gas station owners in Detroit, Michigan ended in tragedy as one of the men shot and killed the other over the lowering of prices by 3 cents.

A fatal bullet to BP station owner Jawad Bazzi’s head was the end result of Bazzi walking across the street with a couple of employees to confront the Marathon owner, Hussah Masboath, and his posse regarding Masboath dropping his price from $2.93 from $2.96 per gallon.

The two groups of Middle Eastern men argued in Arabic, then began throwing punches. One of Bazzi’s employees hit a Marathon employee with a baseball bat, severely injuring him. That’s when the Marathon owner grabbed his handgun and fired three or four times hitting Jawad Bazzi, 45, of Dearborn Heights was shot in the head.

Sgt. Eren Stephens Bell, a spokeswoman for the Detroit police told reporters that the shooter and Marathon owner, Hussah Masboath was taken into police custody. Additionally Bell said that charges had not yet been filed against the alleged gunman.

Following the “Gas War” shooting, Masboath’s Marathon station was closed by law enforcement but the dead man Bazzi’s family and employees took advantage of losing their competition and hiked prices 13 cents per gallon to $3.09.