Another FlorIdiot makes the news.....

[Guro305]

......this time in my yard!!!!!

Two killed in shooting at West Palm Beach Wendy's
By Rochelle E. B. Gilken

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, March 03, 2008

UPDATED: 10:19 p.m. March 03, 2008

The victim of the Wendy's shooting has been identified as a 42-year-old Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Lieutenant Rafael (Ray) Vazquez. Vazquez was on lunch break with his wife and child, said Deputy Chief of Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Steve Delai. Five other people were shot in the restaurant at lunchtime.

Vazquez's wife works for the Palm Springs Police Department. She was hired in 2000 as a dispatcher for Palm Springs Police. In 2005, she became a corporal and now runs the midnight shift. She was uninjured. She had just stepped outside to put their 4-year-old son in the car. Apparently she was at the front door. After hearing gunshots, she took cover behind another car farther from the shooting. The couple has a five children aged 4 to 21.

The victim Lt. Rafael Vazquez, 42, leaves behind a wife and their five children.

Four others were injured in the rampage. They include Jupiter residents Louis Rader, 65 and his wife Antonia Rader, 62, both shot in the arms and legs; and Vanessa Soto, 16, of Lake Worth. All are in stable condition at various hospitals around the county. Another unidentified 43-year-old male victim was shot in the upper right arm. He was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center and is in stable condition.

The gunman was Alburn Edward Blake, 60, of West Palm Beach. West Palm police searched his residence but found no note. Officials believe he was unemployed, but may have worked in maintenance.

The weapon identified as a 9mm Glock. It is one of the simpler designs in handguns and is popular for use by police forces around the world. It is capable of automatic fire, and the various models can carry 17, 19 or 33 shots, in a clip.

Delai said Vazquez apparently returned to the restaurant because a toy was missing from a meal and he was shot at point blank. He was dressed in civilian clothes.

Firefighters at the Royal Palm Beach fire Station, next to village hall, were reeling after learning a colleague so dedicated to his job, with such a bright future, was gone.

"He was a quiet man, and he wasn't a complainer," said District Chief Neil Enos. "I never heard him speak of a problem unless he had a solution to go along with it."

Enos said Lt. Vasquez was promoted in January and moved to the Royal Palm Beach fire station from Lake Park. He was in training Monday to prepare for the new duties that awaited him with his new assignment.

"He was an up and comer," Enos said.

Lt. Kevin Shaw said it was a difficult time to speak publicly about the station's loss.

"It's a private thing," he said. "The lifestyle inside the fire station is that it's a family. And then there's your outside family."

When pressed for more details, Shaw said of Vasquez: "He was a firefighter yesterday, and today he is dead."

Sandra Jackson of Palm Springs was filling her tank at the Cumberland Farms gas station across the street when the frantic customers began running out of the restaurant. Jackson said a woman rushed out with her young son, screaming that her husband, a firefighter, was still inside.

"I said 'what happened? what happened, its going to be ok,'" she said.

"She said, 'No there is a guy in Wendy's shooting and my husband hasn't come out.'"

The Fire-Rescue lieutenant, with Battalion 2, was promoted in January and was attending a required training nearby, from which he was on break. He was hired by the department in 2001.

Another firefighter who was on break witnessed the shooting and is receiving counseling.

The firefighter was apparently a floater at the stations in Battalion 2, which cover Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee and Wellington. Fire stations in western Palm Beach County were lowering their American flags to half staff, and employees there were visibly shaken. One firefighter at the station at Wellington Trace was being comforted by colleagues, before he broke away and asked them to leave him alone.

Paul Miller, Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokesman said the gunman came in through the south door shortly before 12:15, went to the bathroom and then came toward the center of the counter and "fired one shot directly at the lieutenant." He had two clips; there was one magazine on the floor and one in the weapon.

Among the other victims: A 43-year-old male was taken to St. Mary's Medical center and is in serious but stable condition. Two victims are at Good Samaritan Medical Center: A 16-year-old female who was shot in the arm and her mother, who may not have been shot. A 65-year-old male and 62-year-old female were taken to Delray Medical Center.

"We don't know the motive behind this," Miller said.

After the gunman shot himself in the head, Miller said a "hero kicked the gun away" and then started first aid. No employees of Wendy's were injured.

Witness Jerry Pritcherd, 20, of Fort Myers, said he heard a pop and didn't realize it was gunshots. He said he was "scared" when he heard about 20 pops and ran out. He said he was 10 feet away from the shooter, who he said was a tall man wearing a business suit.

Although one witness described the shooter as a former employee, sheriff s office and Wendy's officials said they had no information that he worked there.

A father and son, Richard and Richard Anon of Miami, were just leaving a John Smith Subs restaurant across Military Trail when they saw customers running out of the Wendy's. "We thought there was a fight in the parking lot. Everyone was just running out," said the elder Anon.

One man walking around the scene pointed to the tear in his jeans and bottom of a work boot, where a bullet grazed him.

"I was just sitting there eating a burger and the guy started shooting."

"Another random shooting like we've seen around the United States," Miller said.