The family of one of the victims of the horrific Long Island pharmacy Father’s Day murder spoke out yesterday and vowed vengeance against the bearded gunman that police are still looking for.
Pat Taccetta, the mother of 33-year-old victim Jamie Taccetta, hadn’t found out about her daughter’s death until returning from vacation late Monday night, the New York Post reports.
Her husband reportedly told her she had to come home early because her son had suffered a seizure. It wasn’t until her plane had landed at JFK Airport in New York that officials took her into a private room filled with family and broke the horrific news.
“I can’t believe my daughter’s gone! She was a wonderful person, so wonderful,” Taccetta was heard saying at the Haven Pharmacy yesterday. “We’re going to get you. Justice will be done,” the newspaper reported her saying. It also reported that Jamie, who was slated to marry James Manzella in October, will be dressed in her wedding gown at her funeral, which will be held Saturday.
Jamie’s ex-husband and two young daughters were also seen leaving flowers outside of the pharmacy.
“He’s a coward,” Jamie’s father Ralph Taccetta told the newspaper, adding that there was no excuse for the murder and that, “We’re going to get you, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, we’re going to get you and we’re going to do what needs to be done.”
Surveillance video inside the pharmacy captured the horrific scene that left four dead -- and law enforcement sources told the Post how the alleged killer "executed" his innocent victims without making any demands.
Since four still images from the surveillance footage were released yesterday, the newspaper reports that investigators have received more than 250 tips yesterday and have a suspect in mind.
All four victims "offered no resistance -- and did not appear to provoke the shooter in any way," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer told the newspaper on Monday.
"They were all shot at close range," Dormer continued. "They were shot very suddenly and very quickly."
The footage shows the baseball-capped murderer first entering the tiny Haven Pharmacy in Medford, Long Island, at about 10:20 a.m. Sunday, only minutes after pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45, and Jennifer Nejia, 17, opened the store.
The high school student was not supposed to be working Sunday, but Nejia volunteered to cover Father's Day for an older adult male co-worker who has kids.
Ferguson and Nejia were standing behind the counter when the killer opened a door to the enclosed area where the two were standing. The nervous and scrawny drug addict was looking for his drug of choice: oxycodone.
The man then "executed the workers" in cold blood, without hesitation, a source told the newspaper.
A few minutes later, two unsuspecting store patrons entered the shop.
Taccetta was making a quick stop to the store to pick up thyroid medication. Byron Sheffield, a 71- year-old grandfather, entered the store to get his regular prescription.
The gunman, sporting a backpack, beard and sunglasses, strolled over to where Taccetta was standing at a counter and shot a bullet in the back of her head without saying a word. He then shot Sheffield, standing in an aisle nearby, again without uttering a word.
Taccetta's fiancé was waiting for her in the car outside in the parking lot.
The gunman began stuffing oxycodone pills into his black backpack and fled the store, making sure to cover his face with his white baseball cap on the way out.
Taccetta's fiancé, Manzella, began to worry that she was taking too long in the store and entered the disturbing scene. He became hysterical, sobbing at the sight of his fianceé and the others. He bent down to help her but seeing she was lifeless, pulled out his phone and frantically called 911.
Anyone with information on the crime is being urged to contact the Suffolk County Police Department at (631) 852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 220-TIPS.
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