Location: Delray Beach, Florida
Victims: Two killed
Suspect: Unknown
Victim Alfonza Hunter
The site of the shooting
By Brett Clarkson, Ed Komenda and Mike Clary, Sun Sentinel
"DELRAY BEACH — Reggie Taylor and Alfonso(written as Alfonza in some articles) Hunter were fathers and friends.
The two looked forward to their morning ritual nearly every day: Head to the local market, where they would grab coffee and Taylor would try his luck at lotto.
But early on Sunday morning, the pair had their coffee cups and were heading out the door of the Community Market at 945 W. Atlantic Ave. when two robbers walked in. One of the bandits started blasting away with a semi-automatic handgun. Hunter and Taylor never had a chance. Both died.
The
take for the robbers was less than $100, said a clerk at the market.
Police said the gunmen likely didn't have time to figure out who they
were shooting at.
"It's a heinous crime," said Delray Beach police Detective Joseph Hart of the murder that left Taylor, 56, and Hunter, 68, dead two days before Christmas.
On Monday, devastated friends and relatives in the neighborhood where Taylor and Hunter lived and died were in shock.
"He's a good guy, hard-working man, went to work every day," said Henry Jackson, 45, a friend of Taylor's who had known him since childhood. Jackson, who did maintenance work at the small apartment complex where Taylor lived, stood outside Taylor's front door. He said Taylor didn't cause trouble or look for it.
"He didn't like the clubs, you wouldn't find him out here partying in the street," Jackson said. "If you wanted to find Reggie, you just knock on that door, that's where you would find Reggie."
Another friend drove up in her car, her eyes red with tears. She said her best memories of Taylor was his soft and gentle laugh.
"I'm so numb," said the woman, who would only give her name as Lois. "I really can't believe what happened. It's just a big shock. He was very quiet, a very easygoing person, just a good guy."
Hunter was also well-liked by friends and respected as a hard-working man. On Sunday, he had his bags packed for a Christmas trip to South Carolina with his daughter.
A neighbor, Rashonne Mackey, 44, said Hunter would mow lawns in the neighborhood. She would often hear a knock at the door. It would be Hunter standing there, holding her mail in his hands.
"He'd walk up and say 'looks like this has your name on it' and he gave me the mail," Mackey said. "He was sweet as pie. ... Nobody ever said a bad thing about him."
"It's a heinous crime," said Delray Beach police Detective Joseph Hart of the murder that left Taylor, 56, and Hunter, 68, dead two days before Christmas.
On Monday, devastated friends and relatives in the neighborhood where Taylor and Hunter lived and died were in shock.
"He's a good guy, hard-working man, went to work every day," said Henry Jackson, 45, a friend of Taylor's who had known him since childhood. Jackson, who did maintenance work at the small apartment complex where Taylor lived, stood outside Taylor's front door. He said Taylor didn't cause trouble or look for it.
"He didn't like the clubs, you wouldn't find him out here partying in the street," Jackson said. "If you wanted to find Reggie, you just knock on that door, that's where you would find Reggie."
Another friend drove up in her car, her eyes red with tears. She said her best memories of Taylor was his soft and gentle laugh.
"I'm so numb," said the woman, who would only give her name as Lois. "I really can't believe what happened. It's just a big shock. He was very quiet, a very easygoing person, just a good guy."
Hunter was also well-liked by friends and respected as a hard-working man. On Sunday, he had his bags packed for a Christmas trip to South Carolina with his daughter.
A neighbor, Rashonne Mackey, 44, said Hunter would mow lawns in the neighborhood. She would often hear a knock at the door. It would be Hunter standing there, holding her mail in his hands.
"He'd walk up and say 'looks like this has your name on it' and he gave me the mail," Mackey said. "He was sweet as pie. ... Nobody ever said a bad thing about him."
Neighbors knew him as a quiet gentleman, Mackey said.
"He walked in a very quiet state, with his hands behind his back. He looked at the ground, like he was looking for something," she said. "He was so Southern."
As the family and friends were in mourning Monday, police beefed up security at local markets in Delray to help prevent another tragedy, Hart said.
"We're putting all of our resources into investigating this crime, and locating these guys," Hart said. "And we are putting extra officers at the markets."
That's because the gunmen involved in the double homicide are believed to be the same pair who on Saturday held up another market just a block and half away on West Atlantic, said Delray Beach police spokesman Officer Jeff Messer.
Messer said police were "pretty confident" the same suspects hit both stores.
An employee of the first market to be robbed said Monday the gunmen fired about five shots. He pointed out the bullet holes in the store while customers came and went. Meanwhile, a Delray Beach police cruiser sat outside in the parking lot.
At the market where Taylor and Hunter were shot, clerk Mahmoud Masoud said he was sitting behind the counter when the two robbers walked in just before 6 a.m. Sunday. One of the gunmen shot the two victims without a word, Masoud said.
"They did not say nothing. The one guy just shoots them," Masoud, 26, recalled Monday morning. "It was not like robberies you see on 'Cops,' like 'Put your hands up.' This was two innocent people."
The store manager, Mohammad Hussain, 39, said that while Masoud was dodging bullets, his wife, Rana, was in Homestead giving birth to the couple's third child. Adam was born about 4 a.m., he said.
Masoud, who started working at the store just four months ago, was able to visit his family Sunday afternoon, after he had given police an account of what happened.
"I just gave them a hug," he said. "Thank God I'm alive."
After the incident, Masoud counted nine bullet holes in the store marked by police evidence stickers. He said one shot whizzed by his head and hit a cooler. He also said there was a gun behind the counter, but he had no time to grab it.
"It was quick, man," said Masoud. "They were in the store for less than a minute."
One of the suspects is described as 5-foot-6 with a thin build wearing a dark jacket and a dark hat with a red bill. He was wearing dark shoes with light-colored soles, said police.
The second gunman was described as slightly taller than the other, wearing a light gray jacket and dark shorts that reached below his knees.
Authorities ask anyone with information to call Detective Joseph Hart at 561-243-6220, or Crime Stoppers at 800-458-8477."
News Article
No comments:
Post a Comment