A California man was gunned down moments after bumping into another car in a Walmart parking lot in San Bernardino.
Jonathan Mauk, 59, was killed after what the New York Post called a “minor fender bender” on Feb. 5.
In fact, his son says he was trying to apologize when he was shot to death.
“From what witnesses told me, my dad felt responsible. He was the one to blame, so he got out of the car to apologize, and that is when the other person shot him,” Matthew Mauk said, according to KABC-TV.
The collision took place as Jonathan Mauk was driving around looking for a place to park. At the same time, the suspect was backing out of a parking place.
“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,” Capt. Nelson Carrington of the San Bernardino Police Department said, according to KTLA.
“There was a verbal altercation, and that’s when per witness accounts, the suspect retrieved a firearm and shot the victim,” Carrington said, according to the San Bernardino Sun. “It’s my understanding that the suspect is the one who did all of the yelling.”
Jonathan Mauk was shot in the face, police said, according to KTLA. The suspect then drove off.
Shawntece Norton, 36, was later arrested and charged with homicide.
“I couldn’t imagine anybody getting that upset over something so small, so insignificant,” Matthew Mauk said, according to KTLA. “It’s so painful. I wouldn’t want anybody to go through this.”
“There should be no leniency,” he 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.”
Matthew Mauk said he was saddened when he saw the minimal damage on his father’s car, according to KABC.
“There is a scratch on the fender. There is not a dent. There is no real damage. There is a scratch. That is the extent of the collision that he lost his life over,” he said.
Matthew Mauk said his dad “liked being called grandpa. He said it made him feel old, but he loved the title.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.