WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Junior Montero was a newlywed and a new U.S. citizen who had just taken a new job to support his family.
But on the morning of June 6 — a little more than a week after he found work repossessing vehicles — he was shot and killed while attempting a tow.
Montero, of Hyattsville, had spotted the GMC truck in Marshall, Virginia. He backed up and loaded it.
“As he was pulling out, he was shot,” said a co-worker who only gave his name as Miguel. He requested that the name of the towing company be withheld.
“The [other] driver heard the shot, he looked into the rear-view mirror and saw the truck veer off to the side and went into the ditch and apparently into a pond,” Miguel says.
He describes Montero, 23, as a level-headed, happy guy who had hoped to pursue a career in law enforcement.
“He was getting ready to start a beautiful life with his family,” Miguel says. “And somebody just comes out and strips it away from him.”
Carroll Gregg, the suspected shooter, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Documents say he both admitted to the shooting — “I shot him” — and called it an accident.
Miguel calls repossessing vehicles a dangerous line of work. He wears a flak jacket to every job.
“They get pretty irate,” he says of the vehicle owners. “They get upset at us, but they’re not paying for the bill.”
Montero will be buried in the Dominican Republic.
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