David Abarca had worked late Saturday night, March 22, and had missed his usual ride.
So he walked home from Rodrigo’s Mexican Grill in Riverside, his job for almost 25 years.
Just over a mile into his walk, police said, he was gunned down.
Just after 10 p.m., Riverside police responded to the shooting and went to the area of Hole Avenue and Mitchell Avenue in the La Sierra neighborhood.
There, they found Abarca, 41, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The father of a 10-year-old son was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died shortly after.
Officers were tipped by a witness who allegedly saw a man run through a yard and ditch a firearm, said Officer Ryan Railsback, a Riverside police spokesman. Officers found and arrested Andre Devin Thomas, 23, of Riverside and found the gun, they said.
Thomas was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of murder and discharge of a firearm and being held on $1 million bail.
Investigators initially believed Abarca may have had some kind of altercation with the suspect. However, further investigation revealed the shooting was unprovoked.
“The victim was literally just walking home when the suspect approached him for no reason,” Officer Railsback said. “The victim did absolutely nothing to elicit this.”
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