The motive was not revealed in the weekend shooting. Gordon Tokumatsu reports for the NBC4 News on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021.
Pastor Reggie Moore’s relatives want the person who killed him on Sunday to know what they took away: a man of God, a grandfather, and an all-around good guy.
"I just know I love him and I’m gonna miss him," his cousin Christine Peggese said.
Peggese went to the site where Moore drew his last breath, at an intersection in Compton. She was standing in the rain, placing balloons in the 1000 block of Compton Boulevard.
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She said he had just finished bible study and was heading to his car to get his wallet just before noon.
Suddenly, she heard a commotion. She heard another cousin screaming.
"And he just kept yelling, 'they killed Reggie! They shot Reggie!" Peggese said.
They found him face down. They didn’t realize he’d been shot six times until they turned him over.
LA County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives began combing the scene for evidence, as relatives stood by, stunned, holding each other for support.
Some of them gathered at Moore’s small church afterward, trying to make sense of their loss.
The church itself is not far from where the shooting happened. Family members say Pastor Moore walked down the sidewalk, crossed the street and was shot down in the parking lot.
Lt. Chuck Calderaro told NBCLA that there's very little to go on at this point, including suspect or vehicle description. Investigators do believe Moore was targeted, but have no known motive. He was not robbed.
But his cousin says she already knows why someone would gun down a 67-year-old man with a cane in cold blood.
A gang member did this, she told NBCLA.
That assertion was not confirmed by investigators yet, but she says it’s the only plausible explanation.
"He can’t run. He can’t hide from God," she said.
Through her tears on Sunday, Moore’s daughter called his killers “cowards.”
She said she’ll miss her dad’s sense of humor.
"He wanted to make sure we were safe...coming to church. He was doing what a dad is supposed to do. I don't understand it. I still don't and I won't be able to," Danae Moore, the daughter of the victim, said through tears as family members embraced at the site.
The sheriff's Homicide Bureau urged anyone with information regarding the homicide to call them at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
