DECATUR - Police have few leads on the masked man who shot and killed Decatur-Macon County Fair Board President Dallas E. Beyer about 9:15 p.m. Thursday and stole the receipts from a bingo night at the fairground's Pride of the Prairie Center.

While six to eight people were in the building cleaning up following bingo, no one actually saw the assailant shoot Beyer, 74, said Sgt. Steve Chabak of the Decatur Police Department. Several witnesses did see the robber exit the building by the main doors at the building's west end carrying a small, white safe, he said.

The safe had a large quantity of cash inside.

"It was more of a heavy duty box with a door in the top, not a heavy safe like you think of as sitting on a floor," Chabak said.

None of the witnesses could give the assailant's race, and descriptions varied, Chabak said. The robber is thought to have been a man based on the tone of voice used in giving some commands while in the building, he said.

The suspect, who entered through the building's north door, was estimated at between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and of either a medium or stocky build, Chabak said. The suspect wore a large, dark coat and possibly was bowlegged.

"No one saw him once he got outside the building," Chabak said. "We don't know that he had a vehicle waiting, but we assume he did. We don't know if other people were involved."

Chabak said while no one was present with Beyer when he was shot, others in the building quickly came to his aid and called police. He said based on a comment Beyer made to the first person to reach him, there may have been a struggle between him and his assailant prior to the shooting.

Beyer was shot once in the right chest and taken to Decatur Memorial Hospital emergency room, where he was pronounced dead at 10:22 p.m. Thursday, said Michael E. Day, Macon County coroner.

An autopsy conducted Friday at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield found Beyer died from internal trauma caused by a single gunshot wound to his chest, Day said. An inquest will be scheduled, he said.

Five parent volunteers from Eisenhower High School were working the bingo game Thursday to raise funds for the school's Elite Energy show choir, said Susan York, Eisenhower Booster Club president, who was not present. The group receives $25 for each volunteer who works, she said.

"Right now, we're just kind of in shock," York said. "I don't know what we're going to do."

York said parents were picking up trash when the shooting occurred and did not see it. She wondered Friday whether the Eisenhower group would continue using bingo at the fairground as a fund-raiser should the games be continued.

"I'm sure that there are going to be parents who are apprehensive to work," she said. "I want to support the fairground and what Dallas tried to do, but it being out so far in the middle of nowhere is a concern, I guess."

Anyone with information about the robbery and shooting is asked to contact Decatur police at 424-2734 or CrimeStoppers at 423-TIPS.

Ron Ingram can be reached at ringram@;herald-review.com or 421-7973. Staff Writer Mary Tallon contributed to this report.