Army veteran, 86, and his wife, 85, who were 'executed' in random act of violence ...

[IceWizard]

This was last Memorial Day...
Did anyone hear about this??
I believe it just doesn't it fit the narrative

Army veteran, 86, and his wife, 85, who were 'executed' in
random act of violence while visiting their son's grave -
as they'd done at least 1,000 times since he died of cerebral palsy in 2017








By KAREN RUIZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 13:27 EDT, 15 May 2020 
UPDATED: 05:49 EDT, 1 November 2020


An elderly couple who were gunned down at a veteran's cemetery in Delaware
last week had been visiting their son's grave at the time, their heartbroken
children have revealed.

Paul, 86, and Lidia Marino, 85, from Elkton, Maryland, have been identified as
the victims of a fatal shooting at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in
Bear last Friday morning.

Lidia was pronounced dead at the scene while her husband, who was shot in
the back of the head, was taken to the Christiana Hospital where he
died later that day.

Police later discovered the 29-year-old suspect, Sheldon C. Francis,
dead from a gunshot wound about six hours later in a wooded area.





Paul, 86, and Lidia Marino, 85, (far right)  from Elkton, Maryland,
have been identified as the victims of last week's shooting.
Their sons, twins Ray and Paul Jr, (center) said their parents were
visiting their brother's grave at the time




The elderly couple were at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery
in Bear, pictured, last week when they were fatally shot in a
'random act of violence'


It is unknown whether Francis knew his victims, and investigators are yet to
release a motive. 

The slain couple's surviving children, twins Ray and Paul Jr, 60, are now
struggling to come to terms with their parents' senseless murders, which
have been called a 'random act of violence,' according to the Newark Post.




Sheldon C. Francis, 29, from Middletown, pictured, was identified
as the gunman last week. He was found dead from a gunshot wound
a few hours later in a wooded area



The two revealed their mother and father were at the cemetery that morning
as part of their daily 'ritual' of visiting their brother Anthony's grave.

Anthony, the couple's youngest son, was born with cerebral palsy and died from
complications in March 2017 at the age of 54. 

Although Anthony did not serve in the military, cemetery rules allowed his father,
a peacetime army veteran in the 1950s, to bury one minor child or child with
disabilities at the site. 

The parents had been visiting the burial plot every day ever since.

'It was like a regimen. Mom and Dad visited my brother's grave every single day,
without fail, unless there was inclement weather. They usually went there in the
morning,' Ray the Newark Post on Wednesday.

'I've been trying to figure all this out in my head, but there are some things we
are just never going to know,' he added.

When news of the shooting broke last week, Ray's brother Paul Jr, a maintenance
manager, was at work at the time.

His parents' were such well-known visitors of the cemetery, coworkers immediately
reached out, prompting Paul to immediately call his parents but he did not get a response.

'I went into my office and started watching all of the news about it,' he said.
'I could see my dad's station wagon parked at the cemetery. Then I knew.'

Delaware State Police told the family the gunman had shot the couple with a
handgun at a close range.




Vehicles are seen stopped at a roadblock, last Friday, in Bear, Del.
Delaware State Police were responding Friday to a report of shots
being fired at Delaware's Veterans Memorial Cemetery,
according to a police statement



Law enforcement set up a perimeter and search vehicles at an active shooter
situation near the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Bear on Friday


'He shot our dad in the back of the head and then he shot our mom,' Ray said.

'We don't know if he shot our mom first in front of our dad or if he shot our dad
first in front of our mom. We don't even know if they saw him.'

The elderly couple were well into their 80s at the time of their deaths, but their
sons said Lidia, a former homemaker and seamstress, and Paul Sr, were very
healthy and active and had a least 'five or 10 more years' left.

'I thought they would die from natural causes someday – not be executed by a
stranger in a cemetery,' he said. 

After a shootout with officers, Francis reportedly fled into nearby woods,
Senior Corporal Heather Pepper, a state police spokeswoman, said last week.

Witnesses said he was wearing a black hoodie and was seen running across the grass.

Authorities had used a reverse 911 system to warn area residents that there
was an active shooter and that they should shelter in place.

Some of the residents were evacuated as officers hunted for the suspect.

Police later released a statement saying: 'Francis was located deceased at
approximately 4:00 p.m., on the date of the incident, in a wooded area located
just off of Brennan Blvd., in the development of Brennan Estates, which is
adjacent to the grounds of the cemetery.

'This wooded area was where an exchange of gunfire between Francis and
officers on scene had taken place at approximately 12:08 p.m. Upon being
located Francis was confirmed to have sustained a gunshot wound.

'It is undetermined at this time if the wound was self-inflicted or as a result
of the exchange of gunfire.' 

No officers were injured in the shooting.

The state-owned cemetery is overseen by the Office of Veterans Services,
a division of the Delaware Department of State.