CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas — A Beaumont couple shares their story of survival they were trapped in a Chambers County convenience store during a robbery and shooting.
Megan and Micah Morgan came face to face with a gunman moments after he shot and killed the store clerk.
The Morgans spoke exclusively with 12News about the harrowing experience.
Dashcam video obtained by 12News shows the moments Chambers County Sheriff's deputies pulled up minutes after the deadly gas station robbery in Cove.
Ginny Bagby the clerk inside had been shot. Dispatch could be heard that there was an off-duty EMT on scene administering CPR.
The Morgans say they were the only customers in the store when it happened and they saw it all. They were ordinary people caught in the middle.
"I work in IT," said Micah. "I'm an elementary teacher. We weren't expecting this," said Megan.
The couple had pulled off I-10 for a quick stop on their way home from Houston. They walked in and saw a guy at the counter.
"He was leaned over the counter and we didn't hear anything he was saying. I don't know if he was saying anything. He stood up and held a gun up and yelled give me your money and it was two or three seconds, and he immediately shot," they said.
They froze and then scrambled to get to safety.
"We looked at each other, and we took off running…. I was just thinking to get the farthest away and hide. He went one way, and I went the other and we were crawling on all fours behind shelves in a gas station," the Morgans said.
They tried to hide but the robber saw them on his way out.
"He saw the other lady who worked at the store as he was leaving and yelled get down. And then he walked towards us with the gun," Micah said. "He got really close to us again and yelled get down again, so we hid our heads with our hands… I got on top of her, just out of instinct...We thought we were about to get shot, so I felt my body tense up, preparing to get shot and we stayed like that for awhile but we didn't hear him leave the store."
Eventually Micah stood up, made sure the coast was clear and called 911.
"About that time, a vehicle pulled up and I went outside to warn him, don't go in, and he said he was an EMT and he ran to check on her. And I stayed outside with his wife, and she told me, don't worry. You're safe now," the Morgans told 12News.
Chambers County deputies weren't far behind.
"That's when I broke down and started shaking and crying, you don't expect to be in that situation. We were just going to a gas station," they said.
The couple gave deputies a description of the gunman and they tracked the suspect, Todd Carter, down only minutes later.
"We were actually giving our statements when we heard him over the radio say they got him," they said.
The Morgans are forever grateful their two kids stayed home that night.
"I asked them what they wanted to do and they said stay with Nana and we were so glad they weren't there," said the Morgans.
The couple is still haunted by what they saw.
"There was nothing, no one could have stopped this. It was so fast. It was fast. Fast and random. There was just nothing that anybody could have done," they told 12News.
Deputies arrested the Carter after a brief chase. He's from Houston and is currently in jail, charged with capital murder.