Security guard gunned down outside tavern

Metro Police believe a sniper shot and killed a 24-year-old security guard at the Silver Saddle Saloon late Sunday night, possibly in retaliation for a shooting last month.

Police were notified at 10:35 p.m. of a shooting at the bar at 2501 E. Charleston Blvd. and arrived to find the guard on the ground outside the front entrance. He was shot in the chest.

No altercation or disturbance had occurred at the bar prior to the shooting, leading homicide investigators to believe that the killing was in retaliation for a shooting at the business Sept. 19 involving another security guard, Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

In the prior shooting, a security guard fatally shot Jose Morales, 31. The district attorney's office determined the guard shot in self-defense after Morales attempted to run him over with his car.

A witness reported seeing a brown truck leaving the area from where the shot was fired Sunday night.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the homicide section at 229-3521. Anonymous tips can be placed with Secret Witness at 385-5555.

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