PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia father died while trying to protect his young daughter from two would-be carjackers Thursday, according to police.
Gerard Grandzol, 38, had just parked around 8 p.m. when the two suspects confronted him. He handed over his wallet, but he refused to hand over the keys to his vehicle with his 2-year-old daughter inside, according to WPVI.
Grandzol was shot at least once in the face and died at a nearby hospital.
Residents told KYW Grandzol was a devoted husband and father of two girls, one 2 years old and the other just 6 weeks old. Some residents said the community called him the mayor of their Spring Garden street.
“He was just the best father to our two girls that you could even imagine,” Grandzol’s wife Kristen told KYW. “I have a 6-week-old daughter and a 2 1/2-year-old who saw the whole thing and I don’t know if she’ll ever be right.”
The two suspects ran from the scene; no arrests had been made as of Friday evening.