Loved ones are devastated after a grandfather was shot to death after a fender bender in San Bernardino County.
The incident happened on Feb. 5, as the victim, Jonathan Mauk, 59, drove to a Walmart in Highland on an errand run.
At around 8 p.m., Jonathan arrived at the parking lot and was searching for an open spot. As he drove down an aisle, the female suspect was backing out of a parking spot.
“For whatever reason, the victim stopped and slowly backed his vehicle up and that’s when he had a collision with the suspect’s vehicle,” explained Capt. Nelson Carrington with the San Bernardino Police Department.
Police said the impact was minor, resulting in a scratch or two. When Jonathan got out of his car to apologize, that’s when the suspect allegedly stepped out of her car and shot Jonathan in the face before driving off.
The suspect was later identified as Shawntece Norton, 36, according to San Bernardino police.
When officers arrived at the scene, John was found with a gunshot to his head and was pronounced dead.
Loved ones are struggling to process the news of John’s death as they remember a man who loved his family. John worked at Carey’s Fine Automobiles in San Bernardino where his coworkers were stunned to hear of his death.
“I cried when I found out he got killed,” said Lee Hall, the victim’s friend and coworker. “That’s what he loved — cars. He probably would have fixed the lady’s car for nothing, but she ended up shooting him.”
Jonathan’s son, Matthew Mauk, is struggling to understand how his father could be murdered over a minor incident.
“I couldn’t imagine anybody getting that upset over something so small, so insignificant,” Matthew said. “It’s so painful. I wouldn’t want anybody to go through this.”
The victim’s family described Jonathan as a generous man who wouldn’t hesitate to help out those in need.
“I want the community to understand the type of loss that is suffered not only by his family but by all of us,” Matthew said. “If you’re broke down in front of an auto parts store and he happened to be there, he’s the kind of guy that would offer to help.”
Police were able to track down the suspect and arrest her about 12 hours after the incident took place. She was taken into custody on murder charges along with the special allegation of personal/intentional use of a firearm.
As Jonathan’s family grieves the loss of a loving grandfather and father, they’re hoping justice will be served to the suspected shooter.
“There should be no leniency,” Matthew said. “This type of thing should not be tolerated. This community is already broken enough over years of all the issues that we do have.”
A GoFundMe page created to help the victim’s family with funeral expenses can be found here.