Three people were shot and killed Tuesday night at a small, Hispanic-owned grocery store in Alabama.
The victims were identified as Daniel Lopez, 20, and Romero Lopez, 43 — the nephew and brother of Maribel Lopez, who identified herself to WSFA as an owner of Tienda Los Hermanos grocery store — and 50-year-old George Elijah Jr., who was shopping and visiting with store employees. The younger Lopez and Elijah were pronounced dead at the scene; the elder Lopez succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.
On Wednesday, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and acting Montgomery Police Chief John Hall addressed the shooting, which came against a backdrop of several recent robberies that have targeted the city’s Latino community.
“That’s something that’s, in my mind, inexcusable for people to try to target a group who are trying to work to improve their lives and that of their family by people who are coming to steal and take their money,” said Reed. “It’s something that we will not accept. It’s something that we will not tolerate.”
The two officials said that suspects in the deadly shooting have not yet been identified but state and federal agencies have joined local investigators on the case.
“So once they’re identified, we’re going to seek the most stringent justice that we can, and right now that most stringent justice is going to be on the federal side,” Hall said.
Maribel Lopez told WSFA that she left the store just a short time before the attack to go home for the night. The store had been robbed six times in the past when no one was on the premises, she said.
“We need to speak up,” Lopez said. “Everybody needs to speak up, and they need to let the city know that we’re here and we need to take care of each other and we need to get their attention so that they can start working on it.”
Reed said he understands the concerns of the Latino community.
“We want the public to know, in particular those in our Latino and Hispanic communities to understand that we see you, we hear you, and we’re not going to stand for this,” he said at Wednesday’s news conference. “We’re not going to stand for people to be hunted because people think they’re an easy target or they’re easy prey.”
Reed asked the public to come forward regardless of their immigration status. The priority, he said, is solving the murders. On Thursday, Central Alabama CrimeStoppers offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the shooter or shooters.
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[Featured image: George Elijah Jr., Romero Lopez, and Daniel Lopez/WSFA screenshot]