(Newswire.net — July 11, 2016) —A shooting took place in San Bernardino in front of a liquor store which left three people dead, including a 9-year old boy.
According to the police, the shooting occurred in front of Superior Liquor & Grocery in San Bernardino, California, on Friday night. Police suspect that the attacker waited for the victims to leave the store.
Among the three people killed was nine years old Travon Williams, the boy’s 26-year-old father, Travon Lamar Williams, and 25-year-old Samathy Mahan.
The boy would have turned ten on Saturday. 4
He had asked his father for some candy, and was happy when the father agreed. The boy jumped for joy before leaving the store, an employee of the liquor store told the Los Angeles Times.
The unidentified shooter attacked the victims from the back and shot them at close range. He pulled a gun, fired several shots and killed them before fleeing on foot, San Bernardino Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes said.
It was a heartbreaking moment when the mother of the killed boy pounded on the pavement outside the San Bernardino liquor store, after she realised that her son was ambushed and shot dead.
Someone told her that an 11-year-old boy was among those who had been shot, but the information was wrong. The boy was 9-year and was infact her son.
The mother, Ebony Newman, was in shock and started to yell through tears that the boy was her world. “That’s not right. He didn’t get a chance to live a life.”, the mother cried.
The motive for the attack is still under investigation, but one of those killed – Samathy Mahan, was a documented gang member who was recently paroled, and investigators believe that he was the main target.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the boy’s grandfather, Steven Newman, said that the child’s father was not affiliated with any gangs and didn’t know how he knew Mahan. “He was a dancer and a rapper, not gang-banger”, he explained.
Police released a picture of the attacker from security camera and are asking for the public’s help in identifying him. The black-and-white surveillance photo shows a man partially obscured by a hood.