BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — After months with no jackpot winner, someone finally matched all six numbers of the Powerball lottery and California now has another lotto billionaire.
The winning ticket to the country’s second biggest lottery jackpot was sold at Midway Market and Liquor in Frazier Park. Media from Los Angeles and Southern California made the drive to Frazier Park early Thursday morning.
Cameras arrived Wednesday night and have stuck around Thursday for the possibility of finding the jackpot winner in the small mountain community. News crews staked out the store hoping to get a word with a winner, but did find Nidal Khalil, the store’s owner.
Khalil will get a cut of the prize which is worth $1 million. Khalil was swarmed by cameras and reported as soon as he arrived at his store on Thursday morning.
“I didn’t believe it at the beginning until I got texts from my customers telling me it’s true,” Khalil said. “It’s reality.”
The media frenzy was so overwhelming, nearby business owners had trouble finding parking for themselves.
Lyn Ambrams owns Racecrafters USA next to the Midway Market.
“When I saw the news last night, I told my family I probably would have a hard time getting in tomorrow,” Ambrams said.
“I hope whoever won is generous with the community.”
The winner of the $1.7 billion dollar jackpot has not come forward yet, but California is one of the states with a disclosure policy, so we will not know the identity of the winner until they come forward.
