The shooting death of a Tucson 7-Eleven clerk resulted from an armed standoff at the store, where a young man was trying to steal alcohol, and the employee stood at the door to stop him, police say in court documents.
About 11 p.m. Jan. 22, Andres McKale, 20, entered the store at 4295 E. 29th Street, near South Columbus Boulevard, and tried to steal about eight alcoholic beverages, says the interim complaint filed by police in Pima County Justice Court. While he was gathering the drinks, police said, a friend of his bought merchandise and left.
Scott Kennedy, 55, who was working at the store, stood in McKale's way at the door and told him he had to pay for the merchandise, police said, citing witness testimony and video evidence. Kennedy was carrying a pistol on his hip and put his hand on it as McKale approached him holding a gun, the complaint says.
"Andres told Scott to get out of the way and that he was going to shoot him," the complaint says. "Scott responded that Andres would have to shoot him because he's not going to move."
A memorial near the 7-Eleven store where Scott "Cowboy" Kennedy worked, on East 29th Street near South Columbus Boulevard, features flowers and a small sculpture.
McKale then fired one shot at Kennedy's head and fled, the complaint says. Police arrested him two days later, on Sunday.Â
McKale was imprisoned last year as a result of two criminal convictions from separate cases and was released Dec. 11, state prison records say.Â
In January 2025, he was arrested after throwing a rock at his girlfriend's father, and nearly striking his girlfriend and their child, court records say. He pleaded guilty to domestic-violence endangerment, a class six offense, not designated as a felony or misdemeanor. On March 27, Pima County Superior Court Judge Doug Metcalf sentenced him to three years of probation.
On June 15, Tucson firefighters responded to a call about McKale having a seizure, a complaint filed in the second case says. When he was uncooperative with the firefighters, Tucson police officers responded. They accused him of spitting on two of the officers, kicking one and attempting to head-butt another.Â
McKale pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault on a peace officer and was sentenced by Metcalf on Sept. 22 to nine months in prison, the minimum sentence. But he had also already spent about six months in jail, so the sentence led to just about three months in prison.
After McKale's Dec. 11 release, state records say he "absconded" from his community supervision on Jan. 7.Â
On Jan. 22, before he went to the 7-Eleven store, McKale discussed with others that there was "a white guy" who works at the store and is regularly armed with a gun, the complaint says. They even showed McKale pictures of Kennedy.
"One of the unnamed people gave him (McKale) a .22 caliber pistol to help with the theft," the complaint says. Before being confronted by Kennedy, the complaint says, McKale took about eight containers of Beat Box wine drinks, Smirnoff Ice vodka drinks and BuzzBallz canned cocktails, cradled them in his left arm and hand, and walked toward the front door.Â
McKale was booked into the Pima County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and armed robbery.
