'Worst nightmare': Philadelphia father reflects on shooting death of his son
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia father is grieving after his son was senselessly killed when an argument turned into gun violence at a corner store.
Authorities say Masir Williams, 21, was working as a city surveyor when he stopped inside a corner store on 23rd and Oakford streets in South Philadelphia.
There, police say Williams got into an argument with someone and ran outside where he was fatally shot in the lower back and arm.
Gregory Williams, Masir's father, said receiving the call that his son had been shot to death was his "worst nightmare."
"Something like this is a worst nightmare," Gregory Williams said. "You hear about all the things going on in the city of Philadelphia all the time, all the shooting."
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Gregory said he talked to Masir daily, and described his son as a hard worker with a bright future. Masir was on the job for six months and just graduated from the city's Fast Track Program.
Authorities say they are searching for 21-year-old Senaaj Jackson, who they believe fired the fatal shots that killed Masir. Gregory wants to know if there was another way the two men could have settled their differences that day.
"There were things I was looking forward to doing with my son I was robbed of," Gregory said. "I would ask him why, and do you think there was possibly another way that you could solve whatever differences that you may have had that day?"
Meanwhile, Gregory is calling on Philadelphia fathers to take back their sons and prevent them from picking up guns.
"We can't just keep sitting by waiting for it to happen to us because that's what we're doing," Gregory said. "None of us are immune to it."
The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help support some of the expenses associated with Masir's murder.