Store owner is shot

A New Iberia grocery store owner was shot and injured in an exchange of gunfire Tuesday evening after an attempted holdup in his store, the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

The shooting suspect, described as a slender black man wearing a red and white striped shirt, entered T&B Grocery Store at 1300 St. Jude Ave. around 7 p.m., brandished a handgun and demanded money, Capt. Wendell Raborn, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said.

The store owner, Tei Lam, 47, refused to hand over the money and instead retrieved a handgun of his own, Raborn said, and a shoot-out ensued. Lam was shot once in the abdomen and was later taken to Iberia Medical Center, where he was in intensive care as of this morning.

The suspect fled the scene and dropped his weapon, Raborn said, and it is not known whether he was injuried. At least six customers were in the store at the time of the shooting, and Raborn said police have interviewed them looking for clues.

Lam and his brother-in-law Tom Truong were involved in a similar incident in March when two would-be armed robbers entered the same store wearing masks and wielding a gun and a pipe.

Lam and Truong foiled that attempted holdup as well, chasing both suspects out of the store with a gun. One of the two suspects left behind his mask, pipe and a shoe.

Anyone with any information about Tuesday’s shooting or the suspect’s whereabouts can call the Sheriff’s Office at 369-3711.