A day of celebration quickly took a dark turn after a groom was shot in the head by armed robbers during his backyard wedding reception in Missouri.
Manuel and Dulce Gonzalez had been together for over a decade and were already the parents of two small children when they held an intimate wedding ceremony for about 50 of their close friends and family in the backyard of their St. Louis home Friday, Fox 2 Now reported Monday.
Just before 1 a.m. on Saturday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a home in Dutchtown for reports of a shooting.
Witnesses told police two masked gunmen entered the party and demanded money from guests, police said.
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As one of the men was going through guests’ pockets, an armed man stood behind the groom with a gun pointed at him, police said.
At one point, police said a shot was fired, and Manuel was struck in the head.
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Both suspects fled on foot. They failed to steal anything from the victims.
"They took nothing, yet they took everything from us," Yaribeth Pena, the bride’s sister, told FOX 2 Now.
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Manuel was transported to a hospital and remains in critical condition.
"We need prayers that he will come through this," the family said in a post on a GoFundMe page dedicated to the couple.
On Sunday, the family told FOX 2 police detectives had not yet collected all the evidence and hadn’t interviewed all the witnesses.
"He’s a good father, a good husband to my sister. He’s a hard worker," Pena said. "He’s just an all-around good person that — I don’t know — he didn’t deserve this."
So far, no arrests have been made.
