QUINCY, MASS. (WHDH) - An investigation is underway after a clerk was shot when an armed robbery suspect opened fire inside a gas station in Weymouth on Wednesday night.
“I had to push against him to block the door and then run under the desk to not get killed because I saw he had a gun,” Bennet DeChellis told 7’s Michael Yoshida as he recounted the frightening incident.
“I saw him point it at me. The door was locked, so I immediately ducked down and I think the second shot might have got me. The first shot broke the glass right as I ducked down,” DeChellis said.
DeChellis was shot in the arm and surveillance video showed shattered glass at Rooney’s Gas Station.
Police said the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. when the suspect walked up and tried to push his way in. When DeChellis stopped him, that’s when shots were fired.
Police arrested 22-year-old Christopher Tanguay. According to court documents, Tanguay was found near the gas station and matched the suspect’s description.
Court documents also say Tanguay made several statements to police including “let’s say hypothetically I did it, how many years would those charges be.” The documents go on to say that later, during a recorded interview with detectives, Tanguay admitted he went to the gas station to commit robbery.
Tanguay is facing several charges including armed assault to commit murder.
“Valentine’s Day used to be the thing that my birthday was known for. And now, I have something else to think about,” DeChellis said.
It’s a birthday and night of work DeChellis won’t soon forget, but also one he’s thankful to have survived.
“I’m not going to let it get me down and honestly, you know it could make me a better person for just realizing that I have this choice. I could have been dead but I have my life right now,” DeChellis said.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)