JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WVEC) – Friends of a man shot and killed in a grocery store remembered him as a loving husband and father Sunday night.
James City County Police Deputy Chief Steve Rubino said 34-year-old Gabriel Ryan Maness of Providence Forge died inside the Farm Fresh on Norge Lane Sunday morning.
His accused killer, 55-year-old Brian Alexander Hicks of Woodbridge, turned himself into officers at the store.
Gabriel Maness' father did not want to speak on camera and told 13News Now reporter Chenue Her that the family is asking for some privacy at this time.
Spoke with Gabriel Maness' father. He tells me they don't know who Brian Hicks is and are grieving right now. @13NewsNow
— Chenue Her (@ChenueHer) April 18, 2016
Rubino said Hicks, who is retired from the United States Air Force, had a .45 caliber handgun on him as well as two additional loaded magazines in his pocket.
Emergency dispatchers received a call about the shooting shortly after 8 a.m.
People from James City County Police Department, Virginia State Police, York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, and James City County Fire Department and EMS responded to the scene.
Maness was a customer in the store and was shopping at the time of the shooting. Rubino said Hicks shot the 34-year-old multiple times.
Rubino added that there was no clear indication of what led to the shooting. It did not appear that Hicks and Maness knew each other or that they had any kind of fight prior to the shooting.
Maness and his wife lived in Hampton Roads before they moved to Providence Forge. Maness worked at Extreme Climate, based in Yorktown.
Terryl Green rents their former home in James City County. He and the Manesses' friend and former neighbor, Steve Gahr, stood in disbelief Sunday night.
"It's truly shocking how small of a world it is that somebody in a random act would do that," said Gahr.
The men told 13News Now they spoke to Maness recently and plans to meet up with him.
They said Maness cared for the people around him, especially his wife who is in the Army, their daughter, and the couple's unborn child.
"He was so excited about his baby, and they just built a brand new home," said Green. "The guy would give you the shirt off his back. I'm glad that the guy was caught but this is mind-boggling."
Police charged Hicks with Second Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. He is in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail with no bond set.
Jeff Swanson, a spokesman for Farm Fresh, provided this statement from the company:
Our thoughts are with the victim's family tonight. As this is a police matter, we are working with and fully supporting the police in their investigation. The store was closed and will remain closed for the rest of today. At this time, we expect to reopen tomorrow (Monday) morning.
Click here if you would like to contribute to the Maness family.
