3 dead in Montgomery grocery store shooting

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Three people were killed Tuesday night at a small Montgomery grocery store, an outbreak of violence that follows a series of robberies targeting Latino-owned businesses in Alabama's capital.

The shooting at Tienda Los Hermanos, a grocery store on the city's south side, occurred hours after the city's mayor urged city council members to support a $6 million proposal for an intervention program community aimed at fighting crime in Montgomery.

“People who work in their communities and try to succeed day to day, week to week, should not be preyed upon. And that’s what we got last night,” Mayor Steven Reed said at a news conference Wednesday.

Reed said the city will use all available resources to find out who committed the crime and those who “targeted Latino and Hispanic businesses throughout this community.”

Police Maj. Saba Coleman said officers responded to a report of shots fired shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Two people died at the scene. A third man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Acting Montgomery Police Chief John Hall identified the victims as George Elijah Jr., 50, Daniel Lopez, 20, and Romero Lopez, 43. Reed said two of the shooting victims were family members and the third person was there “just to do a little shopping” and visit with store employees.

Hall said police were investigating whether the shooting was linked to other crimes targeting Latino-owned businesses.

Maribel Lopez, who said she owns the business, told WSFA that her brother and nephew were among the dead.

“I can’t think of anything right now,” she told the station. She said the store had been broken into or broken into at least six times in the past.

“We need to talk,” Lopez said. “Everyone needs to speak up and 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 they can start working on it.”

On Wednesday, bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the grocery store as a memorial.

Councilman Oronde Mitchell, who represents the area, said the shooting happened during a robbery at the store. Mitchell noted that crimes have targeted Hispanic-owned businesses in the area, where customers would be more likely to pay with cash rather than using debit cards or other electronic transactions.

Mitchell said the city needs to do a better job of building trust with the community and taking other steps to combat crime in the city.

During the news conference, a representative from a Spanish-language radio station asked city officials about their concerns that police were responding slowly, if at all, to calls from members of the Latino community. American. Hall said the city is working to improve response times across the city. He said he would investigate whether the calls were ignored.