Jerry’s Story

April 26, 1999, started out as a routine day in Jerry’s wonderful life. The first part of the day was at his beloved place of business, Topp’s Shoes on F Street, NW in Washington, D.C. As normal, upon closing the store Jerry was off to his second location of Topp’s Shoes in Suitland, Maryland. That evening the store manager had requested to leave early for personal reasons. Jerry obliged and sent him on his way. That evening, the store got very busy, and Jerry was able to handle the sales floor himself. The store usually closed at 7:45 pm, but that evening Jerry stayed until 8:45 pm. After closing the store, Jerry drove to the gas station in the same shopping center to fill up with gas. He was headed back to the F Street store to finish some other work. Jerry walked into the gas station to pay and get a drink, when he got back to his car to pump the gas, he thought he saw someone inside of his vehicle. As he was at that gas station almost daily, he thought it was an employee or someone that he knew. Upon opening the car door, gun shots were fired immediately–five of them striking Jerry at close range, causing him to fall down with his leg under the car. Jerry still had the car keys in his hand. The assailant took the keys and drove over his leg while leaving Jerry for dead. Jerry was totally conscience. His business neighbor heard the gun shots and came to the gas station to see what was going on. He noticed Jerry lying on the ground in a pool of blood, so he ran over to help. He called 911, Jerry’s wife, Susy, and Jerry’s Father.

The assailant was caught by police at a fast-food drive-thru nearby shortly thereafter. As the police tried to arrest the assailant, he struggled with them, causing him to die that same night. Back at the gas station, Jerry was quickly flown to Prince Georges County General Hospital where the doctors saved his life and diagnosed Jerry’s condition as a C-7 quadriplegic. Jerry was then flown to The Washington Hospital Center to see if anything else could be done to help his condition. Unfortunately, the diagnosis was correct, and the immediate plan was to stabilize Jerry and then send him to the rehabilitation hospital for 60-90 days so that he could learn how to live as a quadriplegic. It wasn’t just rehabbing that Jerry and his family had to incur. This was a forever life-changing tragedy, causing the family to move from their beautiful home as it was far from accessible, close the shoe business, and somehow keep Jillian their 5-year-old daughter strong. Things were not easy by any means, however, Jerry and his family managed to get through all the obstacles and move forward.