Beef over a Slim Jim prompts gas station owner to shoot customer, cops say

An argument over payment for a Slim Jim beef snack led to a shooting at a Houston gas station, police say.

Police were investigating a shooting at a Houston gas station on Wednesday where the owner allegedly shot a customer during an argument over a Slim Jim beef snack.

The gas station owner, identified as Mohammed Kahloon, accused the male customer, Cameron Carson, 25, of stealing the $1.99 beef stick and shot him in the leg during the ensuing argument, police said.

"This guy came running out of the store while I'm pumping gas yelling, 'You didn't pay for that Slim Jim,'” witness Kenny Allen told KTRK-TV. “(Carson) said, 'I did pay for the Slim Jim.' The next thing you know, this guy reaches in his back, pulls out his gun and shoots him.”

Allen, who was traveling with Carson, told KPRC-TV his friend pushed Kahloon when the store owner got in his face for paying about $1 for the dried sausage snack, arguing he should have been paid $2.15.

Carson underwent surgery at Ben Taub Hospital and was expected to survive, police said.

Kahloon was taken in to talk with investigators, KTRK-TV reported. It wasn’t clear if he will face charges.

Police said last November that Kahloon had been injured when three suspects tried to rob his store and he fired his gun multiple times, killing one suspect. Store employees told KCRA-TV that Khaloon has been uneasy working in the store since then.

Reports said police had placed an evidence marker over a Slim Jim in the gas station’s parking lot.

"It's amazing, over a Slim Jim,” Allen told KCRA-TV. “A $1.99 Slim Jim."