Exclusive: Brother Of Man Killed Inside Westchester Walmart 'Taking This Loss Pretty Seriously'
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - For the first time, the only brother of a man who was shot and killed inside a Walmart store this past weekend is speaking out, saying his brother was not a violent person and had not acted violently before.
"I am taking this loss pretty seriously as well as my family is," said Michael Brown, whose brother 36-year-old Matthew Brown died after the shooting inside the store at 8400 Coral Way at 9:43 a.m. last Saturday.
By telephone from his home in North Florida, Michael Brown told CBS4's Peter D'Oench in an exclusive interview, "He was my only brother, my younger brother and it hurts pretty bad. We were close and getting closer in life since we were getting older. It is a lot to deal with right now."
Miami-Dade Police have said it is not clear what prompted this shooting and while the Walmart store has surveillance cameras, it is not clear if they captured what happened. It is also not known if there were any witnesses to the shooting or if Matthew Brown had a weapon on him.
Michael Brown said while his brother was on probation, he was not a violent person and he had not acted violently in the past.
"My brother like any person had difficulties in life," said Brown. "But he had been doing some good work. He had been going to church and he had been doing artwork and murals in Miami and he had been on the cover of magazines. He actually went to church every day and was getting his life back on track."
Moments after the shooting, Nurse Yvette Nylund tried to help Matthew Brown.
"I saw people running and I heard people dropping everything and running. I said this is an emergency and I can help. I said let me in because this person is bleeding heavily. As a nurse, it is my duty to serve and come in and help."
Miami-Dade police initially detained a man but they released him because they said there was no probable cause for an arrest at this time.
They did release a flyer and police and Michael Brown can use the public's help in case anyone was a witness or know of anyone who witnessed the shooting.
Michael Brown said, "I just want anyone who knows anything if they could speak our and come out because right now this story is one sided and there is only one person living that has something to do with this and if anyone would come forward with information I would appreciate that."
He said that would be appreciated by his entire family.
"You never know what can happen in life," he said. "You never know how much you care for a person until this happens. This could happen to anyone. This could happen to any family and I am sure any family would appreciate people coming forward in other cases."
Anyone who can help should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).