A 29-year-old leaving his overnight shift with coworkers was fatally shot on East 39th Street yesterday morning. The incident occurred at 7:40AM, outside the Williams Club (per investigators, 1010WINS reports "the violence had nothing to do" with the 100-year-old club).
Charles Ross, a Brooklyn resident, had just left the Darcel Group, a legal document company where he worked as a printer, and was heading to the subway. His friends say a man who walked up behind them started shouting with Ross; witnesses say the man yelled, "I told you I'd do this!" as well as "Give up what you owe!" (the Daily News calls it a "pay-back robbery").
The man shot Ross in the neck and then went through Ross' pockets, possibly taking jewelry including a diamond and gold cross worth $10,000. Ross died at the scene and the police are still looking for the shooter and possible accomplices. The police are also looking at surveillance video in the area.
His brother explained to the News they each got $50,000 after their father had a fatal heart attack while driving a Department of Transportation truck, and Ross spent some on jewelry. The brother said, "I was telling him last night that he should tone down what he wears because he could get robbed."
