Granite Falls police are looking for a man who may have been involved in the murder of a pawnshop employee found dead in Granite Gun and Pawn on Monday.
Police got a call at about 1:45 p.m. from two customers who discovered Tony Lee Myers on the floor of the shop at 90 S. Main St. with what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
Investigators say it was a robbery-homicide, said Granite Falls Police Chief Richard Bolick. He would not say what was stolen.
Police are looking to question a man witnesses have described as young and white with short dark hair. He's short, slim and may have a speech impediment.
People saw him walking away from the shop near the time of the murder. He walked south, toward City Bar-B-Que, through backyards of homes on South Main Street.
Witnesses worked with a sketch artist from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to produce a drawing of the man police are searching for.
Granite Falls police are investigating the murder with assistance from the State Bureau of Investigation. Officers worked with Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents Tuesday to inventory the shop's weapons to determine if any had been stolen.
"We would like to thank the community for their outpouring of support and information which continues to assist us in this investigation," Bolick said in a release.
Granite Falls is home to about 4,600 people and the community has been shocked by the act of mid-day violence that left the well-liked Myers dead.
"I don't understand it — this is Granite Falls," Donnie Bolick said. "He'd become a good friend of mine — it's unreal."
Myers' friend Simon Mearns stopped by the shop Tuesday to lay a bouquet of flowers in the parking lot.
"I was just shocked. I couldn't sleep last night," Mearns said. "I just thought about the conversations we used to have — he'll be missed."
The owner of a tire shop across the street had gotten close to Myers in the year since the pawnshop had been open.
"He was a heck of a nice guy. He would have given you the shirt off his back," J.R. Collins said. "I never dreamed that would happen over there."
Bolick asked anyone with any information about the crime or anyone in the store Monday to call his office at 396-3358 or the SBI at 294-2226
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