[email_subscribe]
(Rockledge, FL) — Police still don’t know what caused 28-yr-old Robert Bailey Jr. to walk on the lot of Schlenker Automotive and open fire on Black Friday.
But they do know one thing: the situation could have been much worse had it not been for multiple armed employees who engaged the suspect, ending the attack.
Bailey walked onto the property and began to open fire, in what appears to be a random attack.
50-yr-old Roger Smith, a long time employee at Schlenker, died at the scene. Another employee was shot and left paralyzed due to the attack.
Hearing the commotion, the store manager and anther employee intervened, according to Police Chief Joseph La Sata, who said:
“The manager, who was a concealed weapons permit holder, came out and engaged in gunfire in the parking lot,” La Sata said.
“The manager fled back inside the building, being chased by the gunman. Another Schlenker employee, who also had concealed weapons permit, engaged in gunfire with the suspect.”
Bailey was hit twice by the employees and was taken to a nearby hospital where he survived his injuries and is expected to face charges in the future.
According to a report in the Palm Beach Post, the shooting was random:
Upon hearing the commotion in the parking lot, police said, a manager went outside and confronted Bailey before running back into the shop, with Bailey following behind.
Another employee in the shop, who has a concealed weapons permit, shot Bailey once he came inside, police said.
Police said the manager, Bailey, and the other employee were all shooting inside the business.
“I see people running frantically around the mechanic shop,” witness Tim Cofer told Eyewitness News.
Police said they haven’t been able to determine a motive in the case. LaSata said there’s no connection between the gunman and the victims or the shop.
“This appears to be a random act of violence,” he said.