Off-duty sergeant fatally shot at North Carolina gas station while trying to intervene during a crime, police say

An off-duty police sergeant was fatally shot Saturday afternoon at a gas station just outside Greensboro, North Carolina, authorities said.

The shooting occurred at about 4 p.m. Eastern time at a Sheetz gas station in the community of Colfax, according to Greensboro police.

The sergeant was shot after he "witnessed a crime occur" and attempted "to approach the suspects," Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson said in a news briefing late Saturday.