DETROIT — The owner of a Southwest Detroit gas station was shot and killed by the owner of a competing gas station at about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, according to Detroit Police.An argument over gas prices was said to have escalated into a physical confrontation involving a baseball bat and then leading to the 51-year-old owner of a Marathon station on Springwells and Fort Street shooting the owner of a BP station on the same intersection.

Jawad Bazzi

Police said the argument began when the BP owner, Jawad Bazzi, 45, crossed the street to confront the Marathon owner for dropping his price of regular gasoline to $2.93 a gallon, three cents less than the BP station.Bazzi, a father of four, was pronounced dead at an area hospital, having been shot three to four times with a handgun, according to police.Family members have said that Bazzi was Lebanese American and the unidentified Marathon owner is Syrian American.At presstime, the alleged gunman was in police custody but had not yet been charged with anything.The investigation was ongoing.Ali Jawad, president of Armada Gas and Oil and of the Metro Detroit Service Station Association, said “We lost a good man today. He’s been a member and a good friend for 20 years. He was a family man. All I can say is that if the Michigan legislature three years ago had passed a law like other states that would have made it illegal to sell gas below cost, we wouldn’t be in this position today.”