Veshraj Lamichhane, 53, was found dead inside the Valero gas station and convenience store he owned on West 44th Avenue in Wheatridge, Colorado, after a customer who found the counter unattended called 911. Officers responding that evening, January 5, 2023, determined Lamichhane had been shot. Surveillance from the store showed an assailant enter, attack Lamichhane, shoot him, and then flee in the victim’s Nissan SUV.

A nationwide alert for the stolen vehicle led to its sighting the next morning along Interstate 64 in Indiana. A state trooper attempted a traffic stop; the driver failed to comply and a pursuit ended when the vehicle lost control and rolled several times into an open field. The driver, identified as 26-year-old Shawnathan Chance of Dunn, North Carolina, was taken into custody uninjured and held in Indiana on a murder charge and local counts including resisting law enforcement, possession of a stolen vehicle, and reckless driving, pending extradition to Colorado.

Regular customers described Lamichhane as kind and generous, a familiar presence in the neighborhood. If anyone saw activity at the Valero on the evening of January 5, 2023, or has information about the crime, please come forward.