Fairfax store clerk shot while trying to break up fight over sneakers remembered as outgoing
LOS ANGELES - The Fairfax community is mourning the loss of a beloved shoe store employee.
The employee, Jayren Bradford, was shot Wednesday afternoon as he tried to break up a fight that was happening outside the Shoe Palace, colleagues tell FOX 11.
Bradford was pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the fight stemmed from an argument involving a shoe raffle.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dispute over shoe raffle leads to fatal shooting in Fairfax area
FOX 11 was in Fairfax following the deadly shooting, where the community put together a memorial honoring Bradford.
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One of Bradford's colleagues, Keyshawn Williams, described Bradford as a great co-worker.
"He was an outgoing peer who always wanted to make friends so once I got here," Williams said. "He made me feel welcome like this is somewhere you want to be."
Williams was working inside of the Shoe Palace when the shooting happened.
"I was in the back room cutting boxes and I heard the arguing and it's only my second day here so once something happens in the front, it's out of my hands so I stayed out of it. And then, a lady starts flipping tables, going crazy about the raffle. They walk off and I hear the gunshot so everybody is panicking in the back room, and I walk out and I see Jay on the floor," said Williams.
Williams said one of his colleagues tried to help Bradford.
"One colleague was there right in front of him so he was trying to help him and stop the bleeding but it was fatal in the chest," said Williams.
Williams and his grandmother came to the memorial site to pay respects to Bradford.
"He [Bradford] was very nice. He just got this job trying to help his mother pay rent, I heard. It was cowardly whoever did it and they need to hurry up and get these people off the street because this is crazy and it hit home for me because it could have been my grandson," said Evelyn Brown.
When the shooting happened, it caused an immediate stir in the community.
"While I was with customers, a whole bunch of people were running like running, running. Some ran into the store [Joyrich], and a guy came in and immediately told us that a guy just got shot twice, that's what he said," said Bree who works at Joyrich, a nearby store.
Bree said the violence has become common in the area.
"This is the closest it's been to our store but around Melrose. It's been a thing since maybe 2020 up until now, it's gotten worse. For us, it's always something so we're kind of like I don't want to say we're used to it because we're always like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ And it sucks but feeling wise, you don't feel much, and we carry on with our day," said Bree.
The suspected gunman is described as a Hispanic man with short hair wearing black shorts, black shirt and black pair of shoes. LAPD says he was last seen driving a silver Toyota Camry with the license plate number, BC10D32.
Anyone with information on the deadly shooting is asked to call 213-382-9470.