The 36-year-old victim of a shooting early Sunday morning was likely an innocent bystander who was caught in the spray of gunfire.
Friends say Michael Du was celebrating a birthday at the Basil Ultimate Pho and Fine Vietnamese Cuisine Restaurant when two individuals stormed in and opened fire.
When police arrived at about 2:00 a.m., they found three men in their 30s and 40s inside the restaurant who were suffering from gunshot wounds.
Du was pronounced dead at the scene and the other two men were taken to hospital.
A fourth victim showed up at hospital a short time later suffering from a minor gunshot wound and police say her injuries were the result of the same shooting.
Du’s friends insist that he was not a gang member and was not the target.
Police say that Du is not known to them and that he was sitting behind the suspected target and was likely killed unintentionally.
Michael Du was a postal worker and is being remembered by his friends as a generous and gentle man.
"His dad is very upset, so is his mom. I saw them once on Sunday, once yesterday. All we could do was look at each other and cry. His mom basically misses him. She was telling us Mikey is the type of person that dosen't even hurt, he's not the type that would hurt anyone," said friend Vinny Mai.
Detectives believe that at least one of the injured men was the intended target of the shooting and associated with a local street gang.
Investigators say there were about 50 people in the restaurant when the shooting started and that only five were still at the scene when they arrived.
Police are looking for a white Lexus sedan that was seen speeding away from the scene.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers using any of the following methods:
TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: tttTIPS.com
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637
