Police in Pantego are searching for the man they say shot and killed the owner of a motorcycle shop.

Investigators said Michael Schindler, the owner of Two Wheel World, was found dead from a gunshot wound inside the business just before 9 a.m. Thursday.

Officers said a warrant has been issued for an associate of Schindler's, 53-year-old Chris Anthony Pritchett.

Employee Zachary Tucker said Pritchett was a former employee that Schindler had been trying to help.

"This man is a coward, murdered him basically in his sleep in his own office, broke in and murdered him. I want this man caught. I mean, I want him caught bad," Tucker said.

He said Pritchett also took off with $3,000 or $4,000, leaving Schindler's employees struggling to keep the lights on in the business he's owned for more than 20 years.

"He was here every morning at 7 o'clock. He never missed a day... He wouldn't just want us to shut the doors and that be it. He'd want to see it continue to push on and keep this thing going for him," employee Stoney Kersh said.

Pritchett was seen leaving the scene in the victim's Black 2001 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition bearing Texas license plate GGX9969.

Pritchett is believed to be armed and dangerous. If you see him, or may know where he is, you are ask to call 911 immediately.