Antiques store homicide victim described as a "good friend"

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Two days after an employee of Antiques on Broadway was killed, police are still searching for a suspect.

Police said just after 5 p.m. Monday, an employee was found inside the store at 1115 Broadway . The incident was initially dispatched as a shooting, but an autopsy found J. Robert Shimer, 58, died of blunt force trauma to the head.

The man who went into the store and found Shimer spoke with NewsChannel 15 Wednesday evening. He rents a booth and sells antiques at the store. He said he went in Monday to pay his rent and there wasn't anyone at the front desk. He went looking for an employee and that's when he found Shimer on the floor in one of the rooms off of the main room. He then left the store and called 911.

Wednesday, the store was open for the first time since the crime. Employees were working with heavy hearts as they were still in shock at the loss of their coworker. They called him J.R. and said he was a good friend.

The man who found him also said J.R. was an easy-going guy and that he had worked at the store for several years.

Now he hopes people won't be scared away from shopping at the antique mall and other stores on the street, saying it is a safe neighborhood. He said this is the first incident like this since the antique store opened in 1996.

"We have not had any other incidents like this in this area," Sgt. Mark Brooks with the Fort Wayne Police Department said.

Philip Rizzo owns the barbershop across the street. He's also not worried to have his business on the street just a few blocks from downtown Fort Wayne.

"I know nearly everybody around here. Even the guys who are bumming around," Rizzo said.

The 88-year-old has been cutting hair and giving shaves in his small shop for more than 50 years.

"I was shocked. I thought maybe they tried to rob him," he said, of the attack in the antique store.

Other people close to the antique store said they think robbery may have been a motive too, but police aren't saying what may have been contributing factors to Shimer's death. The investigation into what happened is still ongoing.

"Homicide investigations take an extended period of time. ... Especially in a case where you don't have a direct witness. [Then] you often have to rely on physical evidence and that takes time to gather and evaluate and assemble a case," Brooks said. "People have to be patient, but it's what we do."

Anyone with any information about this crime should call Fort Wayne police at (260) 427-1201.