SEATTLE — A White Center woman is pleading for the public’s help to find the person who shot and killed her boyfriend at a Seattle gas station.
On October 13, just after 8 p.m., Seattle police said a 53-year-old man was found shot dead inside his car, while waiting to fill up his gas tank at Shree’s gas station, located on Detroit Avenue Southwest, in Seattle’s Highland Park neighborhood.
The shooter fired shots into a crowded gas station with “disregard to any of the patrons,” police said.
The victim was later identified as Oton Garcia-Ruiz.
KIRO 7 News spoke with his girlfriend, Maria Cervantes, who said she was with him that night.
“I still can’t comprehend it. It’s very hard for us to have had such a beautiful day earlier and for it to end in such a tragedy,” she said through a translator.
Cervantes said she and Ruiz spent the entire day walking on a beach and watching the sunset on Vashon Island.
The two were driving home when they stopped at the gas station to grab a drink, Cervantes said.
Within minutes, Cervantes said she rushed outside after hearing four gunshots, only to find her boyfriend dead.
“I was scared when I was just running to my car,” she said.
Cervantes said Ruiz, a father, was passionate about the outdoors. He had a caring heart and was always kind to those around him, especially with her son, Cervantes said.
“He would always call me after work, whether it was, ‘Hey I’m coming home’ or ‘Hey, I’m stuck in traffic.’ I would always get those calls, and even now after work, I’m still expecting those calls,” she shared.
Artemio Garcia Parcevil, Ruiz’s older brother, flew to Washington for his little brother’s funeral on Saturday.
Parcevil said Ruiz was the youngest brother of six siblings.
“My brother was one of the kindest, most respectful people that I knew. He was always trying to better himself. He thrived and he always was trying to better himself, school wise. That’s why he came here to work hard,” he shared.
As police search for the suspect captured in the photos below, loved ones are asking for the public’s help to find the person responsible for Ruiz’s death.
“It’s going to take some time to heal as a friend and for the family and the children he left behind too,” said Efren Torres, who met Ruiz within a hiking group.
If you have any details that can help detectives solve this case, you’re asked to call Seattle Police at (206) 233-5000.
A vigil was held Wednesday at the gas station to remember Ruiz.