Trini killed in US $500 robbery

But a bandit’s volley of bullets ended Thomas’ life, his plans and his dreams several days ago. Police in Florida are clueless as to who did it.

Thomas, 24, died in a pool of blood behind the counter at a Mobil gas station at Oakland Park Boulevard, Florida, after he was shot several times. No one saw the shooting. It was only when a customer who walked in the gas station that he saw Thomas lying face down on the floor and called 911.

Police could not estimate how long Thomas had been on the floor before the customer entered.

“He was a very good kid,” said Aftab Ahmed, a daytime clerk at the gas station, where employees were shaken by the tragedy. “It’s scary.”

Police said robbery was a likely motive and that US $500 was taken from the store. They were looking for four men in their late teens to early twenties who fled the immediate area on foot.

Investigators do not know whether a getaway car was parked somewhere in the area. No further descriptions were released.

Investigators were also planning to see whether surveillance cameras installed inside the gas station had any clues. Those who knew Thomas said he had recently leased his own apartment and was looking forward to a future with his girlfriend.

Ahmed said Thomas began working the night shift about six weeks ago. Thomas had been living with an aunt until about two weeks ago, when he leased a fifth-floor apartment in Lauderhill. “As soon as he got this job, he got his own apartment so he and his girlfriend could move in,” Ahmed.

The crime scene area has been the scene of violent incidents in recent months. In March, two men in their twenties were shot to death west of the Mobil station at Los Tios Restaurant. Killed were Jose Garcia, 20, of Fort Lauderdale, and Ivan Henriquez Flores, 24. No one has been arrested in the case.

Thomas’ killing took place almost next door to the scene of a double homicide in October 2003.

Three men with at least one automatic weapon killed a clerk and a security guard at Stile’s Farmers Market. The owner’s wife was badly beaten, as was a store manager. The case was featured on America’s Most Wanted and the suspects were arrested and charged with the murders. It still is pending in the courts.