PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — Shocking video captured the moments after a 65-year-old man was shot and killed, then robbed in a Family Dollar parking lot in Petersburg.
Witnesses can be heard in the video frantically calling 9-1-1 as the victim, Robert Morton, lay lifeless on the sidewalk.
“Dude right there bending over just shot that man on the ground. Pistol in his hand,” one witness said. “He just robbed him. He robbed him.”
The suspect is then seen taking belongings off of the victim’s body and driving off in a light blue van.
According to police, the alleged gunman, 31-year-old Isaiah Dante Tyree, of Prince George County, led them on a chase into Dinwiddie County before he was taken into custody.
Tyree has been charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm while committing a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
“It really shocked me,” said Kareem Wilson, who owns a nearby business and saw Tyree often. “You never know, that could’ve been me. He was clearly disheveled when I seen him Friday night.”
Wilson told 8News reporter Autumn Childress that the suspect was often seen walking near Crater Road. He said the details surrounding the shooting are questionable.
“He [doesn’t] have a car. He walks up and down this street every day,” Wilson said. “The gun shocked me. He barely has clothes on when he’s walking. Where did he get a gun from? So yeah, it just shocked me.”
8News reached out to the Petersburg Bureau of Police with several follow-up questions, including the circumstances that led up to the shooting and any possible relationship between the suspect and the victim. A spokesperson for the department said those details are unclear at the moment.
In the meantime, Wilson said this shooting needs to be a wake-up call about gun violence and mental health.
“People, be careful out here,” Wilson said. “The world is getting crazier and crazier.”
Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to contact Petersburg Police at 804-732-4222.
