Spec. Paul Matthew Zeller
Posted on 07/02/2006 12:25:28 PM PDT by RDTF
An Arlington man who was shot to death outside the Pentagon Row shopping center early Friday was an Army veteran who participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, family members said yesterday.
Spec. Paul Matthew Zeller, 24, joined the Army two weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A mortarman with the 82nd Airborne Division, he was honorably discharged in September 2004.
Zeller's family said he worked long hours at the College Park Honda dealership, commuting between Arlington County and Maryland on Metro. They said Zeller was walking home from the Pentagon City Station just after midnight when he was shot. He did not appear to have been robbed, family members said.
"We don't have a clue why this happened," said Lydia Robertson, Zeller's sister, with whom he lived in Arlington. "It's just tragic."
Police said Zeller was found dead at 12:06 a.m. Friday on the sidewalk in front of the upscale retail center's World Market store in the 1300 block of South Joyce Street. Zeller died from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body.
No arrests had been made in the shooting, and police would not comment on the circumstances of Zeller's death, such as a possible motive or whether he was targeted. But detectives have interviewed several eyewitnesses and said they're seeking others. They have posted fliers throughout the area soliciting information.
The youngest of eight children, Zeller grew up in Westcliffe, Colo., a town of 417 residents 150 miles south of Denver.
Many of Zeller's family members have served in the military or are on active duty, said his father, Dwight Zeller, a retired Navy chaplain who teaches at a seminary in Westcliffe. He described his son as an "easy-going, likable guy" who "made it a profession to be a Christian."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Some welfare-family thug who have been through the revolving door of the court system, I'd guess.
Not so "upscale" after midnight, IMO. I wouldn't walk around there after everybody else was asleep.
Are you sure you know where this is? I can't agree with you
There were some statistics posted on FR showing that D.C., Detroit, New Orleans and some other cities actually had a higher violent death rate than Baghdad.
Spec. Paul Matthew Zeller
A fine looking young man who is with our other soldiers now guarding the gates of Heaven.
God bless him and his family. Now, hang the thug that murdered him.
I used to live 5 minutes from there. I hate to say it, but south Arlington is overrun with illegal aliens. Also, a lot of inner city teenagers from DC ride the subway out to hang out at the Pentagon City Mall because it's the closet mall to them. That whole area is wonderful for shopping and dining during the day and early evening, but it can get pretty dicey late at night.
Between I-395 and Pentagon City shopping mall. No houses, very little street traffic, right by on ramps and off ramps for I-395.
I feel nervous driving around there that late.
Some of them very unpleasant characters, too. Yo-boys or homies from the hood or whatever they call them these days.
I mean "very little street traffic" after the shops close, of course.
Traffic nightmare during normal hours.
"a lot of inner city teenagers from DC ride the subway out to hang out at the Pentagon City Mall"
that's my first guess. Hopefully there are cameras that caught it.
Two years and still no justice for him and his family.
http://www.nbc4.com/news/17705738/detail.html
Paul Matthew Zeller, an Iraq war veteran, was murdered near the Pentagon Row Shopping Center in Arlington on June 30, 2006.
Video of him entering and exiting Harris Teeter (upper right corner):
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=1176575&comments=true
His tribute site:
http://paulzelleriraqiwarvet.com/
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