Robber Says He Has AIDS, Shoots Man

An armed man shot the manager of a Ventura gas station during a robbery Friday after saying that he “didn’t care anymore” because he had AIDS.

Manager Joea Singh Rattan, 25, of Simi Valley was taken by ambulance to the Ventura County Medical Center, where he was treated for a wound in the back of the knee and released.

He will return to the hospital Tuesday for an operation to remove the bullet, said Sgt. Roger Nustad of the Ventura Police Department.

Police are searching for the robber who knocked on Rattan’s office door about 6:45 a.m. as the manager counted money from sales at the Shell Oil Co. Food Mart at 2440 S. Victoria Ave., Nustad said.

Rattan looked through the peephole in the door of the office, situated in a building about 100 feet from the cashier and grocery store area of the gas station, Nustad said.

Rattan later told an employee that he opened the door because he thought the man was bringing an expected soda delivery.

The man then rushed in, pushed Rattan to the ground and pulled out a gun, Nustad said.

“The man said, ‘I have AIDS. I don’t care anymore. Give me your money,’ ” Nustad said.

As the man grabbed the money on Rattan’s desk, the manager tried to escape through the open door but was shot by the robber, who then fled, Nustad said.

Liz Magdaleno, the only cashier on duty at the station, said she did not see the robber or notice that the office door had opened. She was preoccupied with helping the 14 customers who had arrived during the store’s busiest morning hours.

Magdaleno, 22, of Oxnard, said she was alerted to the shooting only after a customer who had just bought some food returned to the store to tell her that the manager was lying next to his office.

She said she ran over to Rattan while a customer called an ambulance.