Powerball Win Prompts Raucous Celebration Outside California 7-11
— -- The scene outside a California 7-Eleven turned into complete pandemonium Wednesday night after word spread that it had sold one of the winning Powerball jackpot tickets.
At least 100 people turned up at the store to be part of the makeshift celebration at the Chino Hills location.
A line of revelers, some who appeared to be wearing pajama pants, formed to get autographs from one of the clerks who could have sold the winning ticket.
Despite purchasing the winning ticket, which means dividing the $1.58 billion jackpot with two others who bought winning tickets in Tennessee and Florida, this person won’ be the only one in California to get a big payout.
The California Lottery mandates that retailers who sell winning Powerball tickets will receive $1 million as a prize themselves, giving the Chino Hills 7-Eleven something extra to celebrate.
Store owner Bilbir Atwal told “Good Morning America” today that he's "feeling very good" after the win.
"I'll be sharing it with my employee and the needy people, but I'm not going to get a million," Atwal said today. "It's way less than that" after taxes.
In addition to the cash bonus, the Chino Hills location is ready for the possible influx of people who might view the store as particularly lucky.
"I love Chino Hills, my customers. They are so nice and they support us," Atwal said, noting how "everybody" came to the store to celebrate with them.
California law mandates that winners are not allowed to remain anonymous, so the purchaser has 180 days from the draw date, or July 11, to collect the cash.
