Walnut Park Father Miguel Rodriguez, Shot To Death In Hardware Store Parking Lot, Mourned At Candlelight Vigil In Long Beach
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — Family and friends came together to mourn a motorcycle-loving father who was gunned down in a Long Beach parking lot.
Miguel Rodriguez, 41, of Walnut Park, stopped at a hardware store in the 6900 block of Paramount Boulevard after work on Feb. 22. Police say officers responding to a report of a person down in the store's parking lot found Rodriguez with several gunshots to his upper body.
Rodriguez was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His family and friends held a candlelight vigil at AJ's Wholesale Distributors, where Rodriguez was found fatally shot, on Sunday night.
"He was a hardworking man. He wasn't involved in anything. He worked for his daughter and his wife," his niece Melissa Rodriguez said. "He loved motorcycles, he rode motorcycles, which is why everyone is in the Harley-Davidson."
Rodriguez left behind a wife and 16-year-old daughter.
A preliminary investigation into the shooting found the gunman approached Rodriguez in the parking lot and fired multiple gunshots directly at him before leaving the area in a sedan. Family members say the suspect was in a white car with no plates, and that Rodriguez had been shot six times.
Police are still searching for the gunman. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact homicide Detectives Sean Magee, Juan Carlos Reyes, or Lisette Temblador at (562) 570-7244.
