The man fatally shot in front of an AutoZone on July 27 was trying to stop a stranger from being robbed, according to the employer of the man held up in front of the auto parts store.
When Joaquin Paniagua saw a man attempt to steal a van from AutoZone customer Don LaRoe, he stepped in, said Doug Berwick, co-owner of Berwick Electric and LaRoe’s employer.
It was then that police suspect Ernest Schmidt, a career thief out of prison on mandatory parole, opened fire on Paniagua and LaRoe. Paniagua died in the store’s parking lot. LaRoe was taken to a hospital, where he had surgery for a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Police suspect Schmidt then carjacked a vehicle and took another man hostage before letting him go unharmed about two miles away.
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