Walgreens shooting suspect knew victim, police report reveals

By Pashtana Usufzy

Monday, Dec. 29, 2014 | 1:05 p.m.

A man accused of shooting and killing a Walgreens employee on Friday morning is a former company employee who once worked with the victim, according to an arrest report.

Police say the alleged robber, Jin Ackerman, 25, worked with Antonino Isnit, 58, in October 2011 at the Walgreens located at 8500 W. Cheyenne Ave., near Rampart Boulevard. Ackerman is accused of robbing the location and fatally shooting Isnit.

Ackerman was working at another Walgreens between the Palazzo and Venetian when he was fired in July 2013 for "improper use of the computer regarding employee files," the report said.

Police believe Ackerman entered the Cheyenne location about 4 a.m. Friday, according to the report.

One of the store's employees, a female, said the suspect purchased surgical masks and gloves and asked to be let into the bathroom, according to the report.

When the female employee went to the back of the store to let the man into the restroom, he pulled out a gun, patted her down and emptied her pockets, according to the report.

He had her handcuff herself inside the restroom, and the suspect put a silencer on his gun, according to the report.

When she began to cry, the suspect allegedly told her not to worry, saying the silencer was for "Tony" whom the suspect claimed to know, according to the report.

Later, the man unlocked her handcuffs and allowed her to help customers, after taking away her cell phone battery, telling her to act normally, according to the report.

He allegedly told her that he had done something similar before, and he watched from another register as she helped customers, according to the report.

Isnit took his lunch break as the suspect waited for the store to clear out, and the man removed about $5,000 to $7,000 in cash from a safe, according to the report.

That's when the suspect allegedly told the female employee, "You're lucky this is not going as planned."

When Isnit returned from his break, he and the suspect had an interaction, with Isnit commenting that the suspect was still there.

The suspect allegedly responded angrily, and Isnit went into the office to clock back in, police said. That's when the suspect followed with the female employee in tow, pointing his gun at Isnit and telling him, "Sorry, Tony, but you know me," according to the report.

The suspect fired multiple times at Isnit and instructed the female employee to sit on the floor, telling her she would be there for a while, according to the report.

He fled the scene, and police dispatched to the scene found 11 shell casings near Isnit's body, according to the report.

Police said witnesses also identified Ackerman as the person who robbed a Walgreens in the 9400 block of West Desert Inn Boulevard, near South Fort Apache Road, two days earlier.

A suspect with a surgical mask and gun handcuffed employees at that Walgreens about the same time of day, according to a press release.

Police believed the man involved in that robbery had knowledge of Walgreens' operations because he attempted to put money on a Home Depot gift card while in the store, according to the report.

A Walgreens district manager identified the man in the Desert Inn robbery as former employee Jin Ackerman, saying that Ackerman was at the Walgreens within the Venetian when someone handcuffed victims and robbed the store, according to the report.

The female employee also positively identified Ackerman, according to the report.

Ackerman was arrested Friday after SWAT served a search warrant at a residence, according to a press release.