A familiar face in Ladyville’s Japan area was gunned down inside his own shop on Friday night. Shane Vargas, known widely as “Shatta P,” was killed on Jackson Avenue, leaving residents stunned and investigators looking for answers. News Five’s Shane Williams visited the scene today and has the story.
Shane Williams, Reporting…
Businessman Shane Vargas was doing what he did most nights, tending to his shop on Jackson Avenue, when an attacker walked in and opened fire. The Friday night shooting was both callous and calculated. A gunman approached him at the back door and fired multiple shots before fleeing, leaving Vargas crying out for help and clinging to life. One neighbor describes the harrowing experience from inside her home.
Neighbor of Deceased
Neighbor of Deceased
“All I remember was the altercation I hear the bang, bang, bang, bang. A lot of noise, the truck, someone cursing, making a lot of noise, mussy to alert someone to assist quick but I didn’t came out because I didn’t want to interfere. I thought it was someone fighting. I didn’t really know it was that tragic that happened to him. Was so shocking.”
The gunman fled the scene of the crime in the Japan area but not before allegedly dropping a nine-millimeter clip at the scene, a crucial piece of evidence police will be relying on in their investigation which has already resulted in multiple arrests.
ASP Stacy Smith
“Police have detained three male persons and recovered an unlicensed nine-millimeter pistol as a part of an ongoing investigation into the murder of forty-four-year-old Shane Vargas of Ladyville Village. Mr. Vargas was inside his shop when an unknown male person approached him firing two shots which resulted in his fatal injury.”
Police have since stepped up patrols throughout the community as a precautionary measure, hoping to prevent any possible retaliation and maintain calm in the area. As Vargas’s family mourns and prepares to lay him to rest, a neighbor points to the unsettling quiet that now surrounds his once-bustling shop, a stark reminder that the community has been shattered.
Neighbor of Deceased
“I would like to say condolences to the family. They really lost a good one. He was such a sweet soul.”
Shane Williams for News Five.
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