A beloved Mississippi security guard was shot and killed by three young men during an attempted robbery.
Early Monday morning, the 60-year-old Roy Love Love was working as usual as an armed guard at the M&M Food Mart, a gas station and convenience store in Jackson, the state capital. Two of his neighbors testified to his dedication to his job.
“He came to work every day,” Tony Williams said.
“This man gets up every day and comes to work,” Jackie Kitchens added.
“They were trying to steal the guard’s gun and in the process they got it and then they killed the guard. It’s unbelievable.”
At about 1:30 a.m. that day, Three Teens Two boys, ages 17 and 16, came into the store, and Love, suspecting the kids were doing something wrong, approached them in the parking lot and told them to leave.
Instead of complying, the trio allegedly tried to rob Love, and during the scuffle, they reportedly got hold of Love’s gun and used it to kill him.
According to the police chief Joseph WadeCCTV footage of the incident was difficult to watch. “They attacked him, took his weapon away. [it]” he said at a press conference.
“This was a very brazen act. They were trying to steal a security guard’s gun, and in the process, they got a gun and then they killed a security guard. It’s unbelievable,” Wade added. Love never drew his weapon, he said.
Shortly after the fatal shooting, Jackson police were called to a search near the intersection of Woody and Monticello streets, less than a half mile from the M&M Food Mart, where police apparently found three young men who were arrested and taken into custody.
The boys were charged with murder and ordered held without bail. The Blaze News is not reporting their names.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Love’s friend Tony Williams, “He was well known in the neighborhood, a legend in the neighborhood. … He was a great guy. It’s shocking.”
“I’m going to miss him.”
Jackie Kitchens remembered Love always keeping an eye on the women in her neighborhood to make sure they were safe: “He’ll see us pull up here, and if we’re a woman, he’ll come over here and make sure we’re safe in our cars and that we get back to our cars okay,” she explained.
“It’s just sad that they would try to take away his little gun.”
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