The victim of a deadly shooting in a busy section of San Diego's Mid-City neighborhood is being remembered Monday as a loving father who worked two jobs to support his family.
"That's the type of man he was," Mark Carter said of his cousin, 31-year-old Dionte Floyd. "A man who was all about his kids and his family, and would do anything for them."
Floyd was shot to death just before 6 p.m. Saturday outside a popular Vietnamese restaurant in a small shopping center on El Cajon Boulevard just west of 54th Street. A second victim, identified by police as Dashe Wallace, 38, was injured in the shooting. He is expected to survive.
San Diego police Lt. Anthony Dupree said a fight broke out between two groups of men before the shooting started. Police officers found Floyd and Wallace on the ground with gunshot wounds in their upper bodies. Officers administered first aid until paramedics arrived and took over, Lt. Dupree said.
Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital, Dupree said.
It was unknown how many shots were fired.
"We have several witnesses were are talking to — a lot of witnesses to be exact," Dupree said. "We're still working through the scene."
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The motive for the shooting is unknown, but on Monday, Floyd's cousin told NBC 7 that Floyd was not involved with gangs, and spend all his spare time caring for his 12-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
"He leaves the legacy of a person who cared for his family and would do anything for his children," Carter said of Floyd. "That's just who he was as a man. That's what he personified. He would do anything to make sure his family was OK."
Carter said he doesn't know why Floyd was at the shopping center just after sunset, Saturday night. But he said he is sure Floyd was not the target of the shooter and was an innocent bystander.
"Whatever happened, a man is gone and his two children are without a father," Carter said. "Someone took him away from his kids, and they have to live with that."
On Sunday morning, more than 12 hours after the deadly shooting, investigators were still at the scene collecting evidence, including bullet casings scattered around the parking lot.
Homicide investigators said the suspects were men wearing black clothing but, as of Monday afternoon, did not have a more complete description.
Anyone with any information about the shooting is urged to call the SDPD Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
