Police arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of a man in front of a Domino’s Pizza in Forestville, Maryland.
The shooting at the busy, popular Penn Mar Shopping Center on Donnell Drive happened about 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
Aaren Butler, 29, of District Heights shot 43-year-old Fred Graham of Greenbelt during a dispute, according to the preliminary investigation.
Graham was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
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Graham and Butler were coworkers, police said. Employees at Domino's told News4 both men worked at the pizza shop.
“Fred was my older brother,” Robert Ponder said. “He was the older brother that taught me how to ride a bike. Really. Taught me how to ride a bike. He was always there for me. I was his old annoying brother, trying to wear his clothes. He used to get mad at me, I guess.”
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Ponder said Graham worked in a supervisory position at Domino's and called the shooting senseless, saying he was told it stemmed from a dispute about a tip.
“My brother’s life is gone,” Ponder said. “And the person who took his life, essentially, you’re losing your life to the system, now.”
Graham was the father of two teenagers. He was born and raised in Bethesda before his family moved to Prince George’s County in his junior year of high school.
Ponder said he was the one who had to tell his niece and nephew the news Thursday night that their father was gone.
“That was the hardest thing, even when I got the call, was, how was I going to explain it to them,” he said.
Butler is charged with first- and second-degree murder.
