You cannot be too careful these days, especially when it comes to meeting up with strangers. One Wichita Falls man found this out the hard way Wednesday evening.

The man advertised an Xbox game console for sale on the popular classified site Craigslist.  A prospective buyer messaged him and the seller agreed to meet at Love’s Truck Stop on U.S. 287.  Meeting in a very public place should be a safe bet, right?  Not so much.

The ‘buyer’ snatched the Xbox from the seller, jumped into his car and fled the scene with the owner of the Xbox- now robbery victim-in hot pursuit.  The pair ended up on the city’s east side on Williams Avenue, where the prospective buyer-now robbery suspect-began shooting at the owner of the now stolen Xbox.

The victim was able to escape and called police shortly after.  Police are still searching for the suspect. Right now, the only description we have is that the suspect was a black male and drove off in a black car.

In 2011, a series of murders in Ohio are believed to have been tied to a Craigslist job posting that was thought to be a robbery scheme. A Georgia man was charged with murder earlier this year in the killings of a Marietta couple responding to a car for sale ad.

While such online tools are a great resource to connect buyers and sellers, you simply have to exercise great caution. Most transactions are legitimate, but evil people with evil intentions will always find ways to access victims. Safety must be job one. Craigslist even offers safety tips and resources for sellers and buyers. Click here to access their safety tips.

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