BELOVED STORE OWNER KILLED

NEIGHBORHOOD MOURNS THE LOSS

OF A FRIEND

A robbery gone bad in Lorain has left a grocery store own dead and a neighborhood in shock.

Lorain Police say that a man went into the Gonzalez Grocery store at 2522 Lexington Ave. Friday morning around 10 a.m. – robbed then shot and killed the storeowner, 47-year-old Jose Gonzalez. Police say the suspect is still at large and they are searching for him.

A garbage man working in the neighborhood saw the suspect flee the store carrying money. The witness worked with Police officials to create a composite drawing of the suspect.

Police say that Mr. Gonzalez was in the store alone at the time of the robbery.

Surveillance equipment has been recovered from the store and is being analyzed at this time. Police say the video was of poor quality so they are having experts examine it and try to enhance the pictures.

Police said that the Gonzalez Grocery store has been around for a long time and is located in a rough neighborhood. He said the store had been robbed a number of times over the years but nothing as serious as this. “We have had a string of robberies and burglaries throughout the city however we have some of those people in custody but we do not know if this is related to this one or not.”

Jackie Fears has lived in the neighborhood for years and said that the death of Mr. Gonzalez will hit everyone who knew him very hard. “He was just a great man. They were a great couple to everyone in the neighborhood, especially the kids. They would give the kids candy and I know there have been times that I would go in and not have enough money on me and Mr. Gonzalez would just say “It’s ok, you can pay me another time”. That is just the way he was, to everybody. A kind man and now he is gone, very senseless.”


To see all photos from the scene: CLICK HERE