Police in suburban St. Louis are trying to figure out who killed a mother as she was walking to her car.
Shakeela Martin, 35, was shot and killed on June 30 at a BP gas station, Ferguson police said. They added that four of her five children were sitting in the car when she was shot and killed.
None of the children were hurt.
“It’s breathtaking. It’s absolutely shocking. It just shook me like an earthquake,” Whittley Anderson, one of Martin’s family members, told NBC5.
Police said Martin was an innocent bystander. She was picking up slushies for her children in the sweltering heat.
A friend of Martin’s, who was with her that night, told NBC5 that several men in a car pulled up to the gas station. The men then began shooting and sped off.
The woman said she heard at least 10 gunshots before she saw Martin had been hit.
Before Martin got to the gas station, police said an argument broke out inside. That’s when the barrage of gunfire began.
Officers also found a man who had been shot. As of Wednesday, he is in critical condition. Police said there is no apparent connection between the victims and the shooters.
“She was here to purchase some soft drinks for her young kids,” Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said. “They’re physically unhurt but obviously hurt emotionally. You can only imagine what a child would go through watching their mom being murdered in front of them.”
No one has been arrested.
Martin’s family says her children will have a permanent emotional scar after witnessing their mother’s death.
“It was just senseless. It’s so surreal. How can a woman go to the store, get slushies for her kids, and end up dying? These kids now have to live with this until they’re old, and it will never go away. It will never leave our family,” Anderson said.
Martin was reportedly looking forward to moving into a new home with her kids.
“Everybody was really excited about her move. What do we do now?” Anderson said.
Many people online were stunned by the slaying.
“Now that’s something that her kids will have to live with for the rest of their lives, seeing their mother gunned down in front of them, being at the right place but wrong time, that’s going to be one picture that will replay in their minds over and over again,” @nettiegirl2024 wrote on Threads.
“Ridiculous, bruh. Took this woman from her kids. This is so wicked,” @kickdatgospel added.
“Innocent mother doing her best killed over some clowns wanting to be gansta!!” @babe.sinnhungarian wrote.
In an effort to gather more information, KMOV reported that officers have installed a portable camera system in the gas station parking lot. The system detects stolen vehicles.
Ferguson police told the outlet that detectives are following up on “promising leads.”
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Martin’s family and police for more information but has not heard back.
