Court docs: Man fatally shot Fort Wayne clerk with sawed-off shotgun for cigarettes
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – With Monday’s formal charges against Victor Rivera in the Thanksgiving night shooting death of a Meijer gas station clerk, more details are coming out per the probable cause affidavit.
Jacob Walerko of Fort Wayne died of a gunshot wound of the head when he was shot while working at the Meijer gas station in the 6300 block of Lima Road on Thursday night. The Allen County Coroner’s Office on Monday officially ruled Walerko’s death a homicide.
Here are some of the excerpts from the court documents:
While the officer was in route to the scene, he was advised the “victim, Jacob Walerko, was shot in the head and dead at the scene.”
He requested officers try to get surveillance video. On the video he watched Rivera pull out “what appeared to be as sawed off shot gun” and shoot Walerko in the head. Rivera then jumped over the counter and stole a carton of Newport cigarettes. He then fled across the parking lot.
After interviews on scene and watching that video, police released the images to the public. That’s when tips poured in.
One of those led police to Facebook. There police found Rivera wearing the same clothing as the suspect in the surveillance images. Two more tips mentioned Rivera wearing the same clothing. One stated Rivera “only as two sets of clothes and those are his clothes.”
According to the report, Rivera’s mother also identified him. Police recorded her as crying during a phone call.
Multiple tips reported Rivera tried to work at the gas station. A customer was documented saying they saw him “making threats to the gas station workers about coming back and getting even because he did not get a job.”
One tip stated Rivera was “very interested in watching the news about the shooting.” Another stated “watched the news” after the shooting and another said when he saw it he said “Oh man, I am in trouble.”