A security guard was shot in the line of duty last night. He is 54-year-old Thomas Gomez who was shot as he ran away from attackers in the Advance Advertising Ideas parking lot. Gomez today told us his attackers had murder on their mind.
Keith Swift Reporting,
'Shut up' and 'please don't kill me,' that was the extent of the conversation between Thomas Gomez and the five men who ambushed him inside this small security
hut on the Advance Advertising Ideas compound. Around 4 am this morning, Gomez was patrolling the compound while his attackers waited inside. Gomez spoke to us with the assistance of a translator.
Thomas Gomez, Shooting Victim
"He says the five of them were speaking in Spanish to him. He says the guys had a cloth in their hand and they were trying to cover his mouth, they wanted to take him in one corner so people who were passing on the street couldn't see him. He knocked away their hands and was trying to run and that's when they shot him."
Gomez was shot once to the left side of his back. That bullet is now lodged in his chest. Today from his hospital bed at the KHMH he told us he feels lucky to be alive because he believes the men wanted to kill him so they could raid the very businesses he was paid to protect.
Thomas Gomez,
"He thinks the guys went into catch him first and then after break into the store. He said the intention was to kill him because the guy first put a gun to his and then after to his chest. When he tried to run, that is when the guy shot him."
Gomez's prognosis for recovery is good and he says he plans to return to this booth - the booth he was almost killed in last night and this booth - the booth he has worked in for the past nine years.
Gomez is expected to undergo surgery to remove the bullet.
