Scientist and Fiancé on Vacation Took Wrong Turn Onto Dark Road. Then a Group of Men Shot Him in the Head

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Omar Padilla Vélez died on January 22, three weeks after he was shot while driving in the early morning hours.

• His fiancée, Kelly Crispin, says the attackers appeared to have made a mistake at some point

• One of the attackers then gave them instructions on how to get out of the neighborhood safely.

A Pennsylvania couple met a grisly fate during a Caribbean vacation in early January, his surviving fiancée said, according to several news outlets.

Omar Padilla Vélez and Kelly Crispin, of Philadelphia, were visiting family in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when they were attacked, Crispin reported. Philadelphia Researcher, NBC Philadelphia And FOX 29.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, the couple was returning to Vélez’s parents’ house after having dinner at a friend’s house with a friend in the backseat, Crispin told FOX 29. Researcher reported.

They then turned onto a side street, initially thinking they were on the highway, Crispin said. Researcher.

That’s when about a dozen men carrying AR-15-style rifles surrounded their car. When Padilla Vélez tried to walk away, they started shooting. As bullets riddled the car, amid exploding glass and the pain in his shoulder, Crispin heard Padilla Vélez say he had been shot.

He was shot in the head and would die three weeks later on January 22, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Although nearly a month has passed since the conflict, the names of no persons involved in the incident have been disclosed and no arrests have been made.

Crispin claims Researcher He said San Juan police did not visit the scene until five days after the crime and did not interview him until Jan. 21.

San Juan police did not respond to multiple calls for comment Friday.

Questions still remain in the investigation.

Crispin says that at one point during the ordeal, he heard some of the attackers yelling at the others to stop shooting because there was a woman in the car, which gave him the impression they might have made a mistake.

He said his bag was searched, nothing was taken and they gave his phone back. Researcher.

Perhaps most shockingly, while Crispin was tending to the victim, he says one of the attackers instructed them to get out of the neighborhood.

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Padilla Vélez was a successful scientist who published in various prestigious science journals and platforms.

In motion tribute Crispin took to Facebook to mourn the future that had been taken away from them.

“So much was stolen from us in one moment. Marriage, children, and our promise to grow old together,” she wrote. “But what can never be stolen from us is the beautiful life we ​​built together, full of laughter and love.”

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