Two juveniles have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a security guard at a Downtown Dallas CVS store late Friday night.
Anthony Egeonu, 39, was shot three times after confronting two youths who were allegedly shoplifting at the store located in the 1400 block of Main Street at about 11 p.m. on January 24. Dallas Fire Rescue transported the victim to a local hospital, where he died.
The two juveniles, who have not been publicly identified because of their age, were arrested about 24 hours later.
Egeonu was a licensed security guard employed by a third-party security firm. He was also an SRO officer at the Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy, a charter school in Fate, Texas, The Dallas Morning News reported.
According to Diamond Fechner, the parent of a student at the school, Egeonu was popular with the students and took a particular interest in supporting the school’s basketball program. He often attended the team’s games and practice sessions to cheer on the student-athletes.
“He did it because he loved the kids, hands down,” Fechner said, according to DMN.
Egeonu was a husband and father to three girls, ranging in age from 4 to 16, and the sole financial provider for the family. A GoFundMe page has been set up to cover funeral expenses and to care for the family’s needs. As of Monday, the account had reached over 50% of its $10,000 goal.
Egeonu’s wife, Octavia, described her husband as a Christian man with a “light in him that I loved,” NBC 5 DFW reported. She said that he chose to be a security officer rather than join the police force because he felt that it would not be a less risky profession.
“We knew the risk, but not at this magnitude, because that’s why we decided to go security,” Octavia Egeonu said. “Because he knew, well, police officer right now is kind of dangerous, I want to come home to my family, I want to come home to my kids.”