Fatal shooting of Wilton Manors man inside home under investigation
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Broward County Sheriff's Office on Monday was searching for clues after a man was fatally shot Sunday night at a Wilton Manors home, authorities said.
"I was sleeping and around 10:46, I heard 4, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I knew it was gunshots," said one neighbor who did not want to be identified.
This happened in the 500 block of NW 28th Court in Wilton Manors. "I said, 'Naw, it can't be fireworks. That sound like gunshots,'" said neighbor Charles Fencher.
Left behind are bullet holes in the front of the house with several more on the side in the carport.
"He's a very good man, very good man. He didn't deserve this at all," his friend Tamica told us.
She, along with two other friends, tells us the victim is 43 or 44-year-old Arlen Cata who's known as AC.
"It's very surprising because AC doesn't carry himself like that. He gets along with everybody. He's very soft-spoken," Tamica said.
Friends describe AC as a family man, the father of 3 kids and the grandfather of two boys.
"He take them to school. He wakes up, takes them wherever they need to go, doctors appointments, dentist. He does everything," said another friend who did not want to give her name.
They tell us his 11-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son were home while the bullets were flying.
"I just thank God they didn't touch the kids. I know that they're very traumatized. All they know is their dad," the friend told us.
Many neighbors tell us the violence has shaken them.
"I've lived here 62 years and nothing like this has ever happened. Never," a neighbor said.
Investigators have not said publicly if the victim knew the person who shot him or what led to the gunfire.
Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
