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Man killed in barrage of gunfire outside Melbourne gas station, police say

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Police said they are investigating a homicide at a gas station in Melbourne.

Twonnie Pollard, 21, was found outside the Sunoco gas station on Babcock Street early Friday morning, police said.

He died at a hospital after being shot multiple times, police said.

Ibrahim Dural, a clerk who was in the Food Mart at the time, said there were three or four customers inside at the time of the shooting.

The gunfire erupted minutes after the customers walked outside, Dural said.

"Some of them (were) coming inside saying, 'Call the police,'" he said. "I called 911, and they (showed) up after two or three minutes."

Investigators said they don't believe the shooting was random.

"We have every detective, all our auxiliary personnel, our community resource officers, our supervisors -- everybody's actively involved," Melbourne police Lt. Cheryl Trainer said. "We have to find the person responsible soon than later."

Pollard's parents told Channel 9 their son had moved back last year after attending college out of state. They said he had been a standout football player at Palm Bay High School.

"That was his No. 1 thing was football," said his mother, TeddieAnn Stewart. "From when he was four years old, he loved football."

Pollard's parents said life will not be the same without him.

"It was just something about him that was contagious to love him," Stewart said.

"I'm going to miss (him) calling me, and when we hang up he always say, 'Love you,' and I say, 'Love you back' to him," said Willie Stewart, Pollard's father. "That's the part I'm going to miss."

Police said they are searching for an older model silver Nissan Altima with front-end damage.

The shooting remains under investigation.

No other information was released.