‘Senseless killings;’ Shooting death of security guard at nightclub appears targeted, sheriff says

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP — An off-duty nightclub security guard was shot and killed inside a vehicle early Monday morning.

On News Center 7 at 5:00, Mike Campbell spoke to Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck who explained why he thinks this shooting was targeted.

Around 2:50 a.m., Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Napoleon’s Palace in the 4100 block of Germantown Pike on reports of a shooting.

“Information that indicates the person waited for him to come out, get in the car, and as soon as he got in the car he was shot,” Streck said.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has not identified the victim yet, but a flood of Facebook posts identified the victim as Darnell Pate.

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News Center 7 has confirmed that the victim worked as a police officer for a handful of local agencies.

A law enforcement source also indicated he attended Edison State Peace Officer Academy.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke with a woman who said she came to Napoleon’s to pay tribute to Pate. She identifies herself as J-Bird.

J-Bird was stunned to hear of Pate’s death.

“We play pool here, this is just crazy, it’s crazy because I was just here a couple of days ago and he was here, he patted me down,” J-Bird said.

Streck said this kind of violence was not a spur-of-the-moment, emotional reaction.

“We 100% believe this was a targeted attack,” Streck said.

Streck said the security guard was one of the last people to leave after his shift.

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The Sheriff’s Office does not know the motive for this attack.

“Senseless, so many senseless killings going on right now,” J-Bird said.

J-Bird and the flood of Facebook users say this senseless killing will leave children without a father.

“Now they just got a mom, no dad, I don’t want to see any kids grow up like that,” J-Bird said.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (937) 225-4357.

We are working to learn more about this tragedy and will continue to provide updates.

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