‘He died a hero’: Fairfield Township Walmart shooting victim was expecting baby with fiancée
Alex Damron helped his brother move on Thursday not knowing later that night he would die.
Alex Damron helped his brother move on Thursday not knowing later that night he would die.
Alex Damron helped his brother move on Thursday not knowing later that night he would die.
After an attempted aggravated robbery at a Fairfield Walmart on Thursday, the family of the man who died shared their memories and shock of the guy they knew as "the life of the party."
Fairfield Township police say Adam Black was shopping at Walmart at the same time as a suspect, identified as Anthony Brown, was attempting a robbery in the electronics department. Police say a shopper tried to intervene and the suspect ran away toward the door and another shopper, identified as Black, 35, tried to stop Brown. Police say the suspect shot and killed Black. An employee was also struck by a bullet and was taken to the hospital.
On Friday, WLWT spoke with Black's younger brother, Alex Damron, who just arrived from Columbus to Hamilton to start attending to his brother's affairs, including checking on his two dogs.
"He was such a great guy," Damron said while scrolling through photos of his older brother, Adam Black.
Damron shared that Black worked as a security guard and recently moved from Columbus to Hamilton to be closer to his fiancée. Damron shared Black and his fiancée recently found out they were expecting a baby together.
Now, the family remembers and mourns the man Black was.
“He was always wanting to help people. He was always talking. Always cracking jokes," Damron said. "He was, I guess you would say, the life of the party.”
Damron said he last saw Black on Thursday, just hours before his death. He said he was helping his brother continue to move things to Hamilton. Damron said he found out Friday morning through relatives that his brother was dead. He said his brother's training as a security guard "kicked in" and, to no surprise to his family, was willing to sacrifice his life to protect total strangers.
"It's very unfortunate, you know," Damron said. "He died trying to protect people and that's, to me, he died a hero."
To the person responsible for taking his brother's life, Damron said,
"As far as the suspect goes," Damron said. "I just I really hope that he knows what he did. And what the pain is. He brought upon all of these people, not only just for my brother, but for the individual that was injured in the shooting."
In the midst of the chaos, Damron says he wants people, including the strangers his brother died to save, to know this, "At the end of the day, he was a hero. He protected those around him. He was trying to do what was right. And that's how I will always remember him. That's how my entire family will remember him. That's how I hope everybody will."