83-year-old employee dies after shove during Home Depot theft, suspect sought

An elderly Home Depot employee who was shoved to the ground by a man allegedly fleeing the store with stolen merchandise has died weeks after the assault, police said. A suspect is still being sought in the now deadly attack.

The disturbing incident, which occurred on Oct. 18 at a Home Depot in Hillsborough, North Carolina, was caught on the store's surveillance footage.

In the footage, the octogenarian employee can be seen approaching the masked suspect as he leaves through the store's garden area with a shopping cart filled with three pressure washers. The suspect can be seen using his right arm to push away the employee, sending him to the ground, while continuing to push the cart.

The victim died on Wednesday due to complications from injuries he sustained in the assault, the Hillsborough Police Department said. The North Carolina medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide, police said.

The employee was Gary Rasor, who had worked with the company for more than nine years, a Home Depot spokesperson confirmed. He celebrated his 83rd birthday days after the assault in the hospital.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of our associate Gary," Margaret Smith, a spokesperson for Home Depot, said in a statement to ABC News. "He was an amazing friend, husband, father and grandfather, always willing to help anyone."

"Hillsborough associates just celebrated his 83rd birthday with him," the statement continued. "Right now, our top concern is supporting his family and our associates during this difficult time."

Rasor was an Army veteran who throughout his life worked in various industries, including insurance, construction and fencing, before moving to Durham and working at the Hillsborough Home Depot, according to an obituary.

He is survived by his wife, son, two daughters, three stepdaughters, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, according to the obituary.

Police have asked for the public's help in identifying the suspect in the larceny-linked death. The approximately 6-foot-tall Black man fled the scene in a white, four-door Hyundai Sonata with an "obscured" North Carolina temporary tag, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hillsborough Police Department at 919-296-9562.