Gas station employee arrested in shooting death of suspected thief in NE Albuquerque

A gas station employee is accused of fatally shooting an unhoused man who reportedly stole cash inside a convenience store in Northeast Albuquerque Sunday morning.

Stephen McCorkle, 37, of Albuquerque is charged with an open count of murder. McCorkle is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said McCorkle was arrested Sunday night. According to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court, McCorkle’s co-workers identified him to police.

At 6:10 a.m. Sunday, Albuquerque Police Department received a call of a homicide in the area of the 1300 block of Georgia, near Mountain and Louisiana.

According to the complaint, when officers arrived, they found a man on the street “cold to the touch.” When officers lifted up his shirt, they found a gunshot wound on his lower back.

Police said the Office of the Medical Investigator found $20 and $100 bills between two layers of pants the man was wearing along with two rolls of coins in a pocket that were “consistent with rolls of coins you would receive from a bank or find in a cash register.”

Gallegos said the dead man’s identity is not being released until his next of kin has been notified.

The complaint states that at about 5 a.m., store video surveillance showed two apparently unhoused people stealing cigarettes, food and lottery tickets. One of the men was then seen taking a burlap-style pouch with cash as well as cash from a register.

Police said McCorkle left the store unlocked when he went to the bathroom. When he returned, the men ran. McCorkle then chased after one of the men with a “medium-sized handgun.”

According to the complaint, at about 5:15 a.m., people told police they heard two gunshots in the area of the 1300 block of Georgia. At 5:26 a.m., McCorkle returned to the gas station. Police said an employee asked McCorkle why he did not call police to report the theft. He “seemed concerned” that the employee was going to report the incident to police.

“Additionally, the burlap(-)style pouch, which contained money from the safe drop,” police said, “was not located on the victim’s body at the time he was found by police.”

McCorkle is later seen on surveillance video placing the gun back into his pocket and fleeing in a Jeep.

According to court records, in 2015, McCorkle pleaded guilty to attempting to commit murder after throwing a Molotov cocktail inside his aunt and uncle’s Northeast Albuquerque home. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.