From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:


Henrico slaying jolts Shenandoah town

Father is shot as he, two sons unload bags at airport-area motel

BY BILL MCKELWAY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Thursday, April 5, 2007
RELATED: Police Beat


From his home in the poultry-rich Shenandoah Valley town of Broadway, Gary Post Sr. could see North Mountain to the west and listen to the trickle of Linville Creek.


"He loved living in a quiet, rural place," said neighbor James Fye, who said Post moved to the area from Northern Virginia about 14 years ago.

But early Tuesday morning, accompanied by his two adult sons, Post's search for an inexpensive room and a few hours' sleep near Richmond International Airport ended in his death.
Henrico County police said the three were overtaken and held at gunpoint as they unloaded their bags at The Legacy Inn, a compound of single-story motel rooms off Williamsburg Road.
Police last night were looking for four black males, 19 to 25 years old, from 165 to 200 pounds and all just under 6 feet tall. A witness who saw the assailants leave the motel said they were driving a tan or silver late-model Pontiac. Each man carried a blue-steel, semi-automatic handgun.

Post, 54, was shot once in the chest after the assailants demanded money.

"All we can think is that he must have been unfamiliar with the area and was taken by surprise," said Broadway Mayor John Long, Jr., a lifelong resident of the town where Post and his family were known as trustworthy, community-involved residents.

"His kids did swim team with mine, and his daughter, Becky, dated my nephew for a number of years," Long said.

News of Post's death spread among Broadway's 3,500 people long before police bulletins were issued. Last night, friends and family gathered at the Posts' home on Shenandoah Avenue.

The assailants "didn't even get any money," said Henrico Police Lt. Doug Perry, who said Post and his sons, Gary Jr. and Jacob, were unarmed. "This was a totally senseless . . . "

His death was the county's second homicide of the year.

Post died at VCU Medical Center shortly after the 12:37 a.m. shooting.

Stains from pooled blood on a sidewalk outside Room 131, which cost $39.95 for the night, still marked the shooting site yesterday.

Family members could not be reached last night, but longtime friends said Post and his sons were headed for the wedding of a family friend in Texas where Post's wife, Mary, was waiting. She flew back home yesterday.

Long, the mayor, said staying overnight near the airport is nothing unusual, given the three-hour drive from the Shenandoah Valley. "I did the same thing a few weeks ago," he said.

Post and his wife had a carpet and floor covering business in Broadway called Carpet Tech of Virginia. Deeply involved in the community, they had a mural depicting a covered bridge painted on their business, part of a downtown beautification effort.

"He had a great reputation for doing good, fair, honest work. I asked around, and he was the guy people recommended," said Larry Heine, who moved to the area from Pennsylvania and ended up creating a Web site for Post's business.

"It's still unfinished; they were always too busy to spend the time it would take to get it completed," Heine said.

"He did my carpets for me and he couldn't have been a nicer person," said Broadway High School Assistant Principal Kelly Troxell. "His store was right down the street from school, so I wanted to give a local business my business. That's the way we do things here."

All three of the Posts' children went to Broadway High School, where teams are known as the Gobblers, and at least one of his sons joined the family business, friends and neighbors said last night. The boys played sports, and Becky ran track and was a cheerleader.

Yesterday, the small town 12 miles northwest of Harrisonburg was in mourning even before funeral arrangements were complete.

Flower orders for the funeral were already coming in yesterday morning at Evergreen Florist, another family business, where co-owner Jane Remson said Post used to come to buy flowers for his wife. "They did the carpet for our new house," she said. "He was a good, dependable guy. They are just down-to-earth good people.

"This is just not the kind of thing that happens to people here. Not even when they go off to the city," she said.

Next door, C.W. Grandle said his family business, Grandle Funeral Home, will help lay Gary Post to rest.

"It has been a sad day for everyone," Grandle said.

Contact staff writer Bill McKelway at bmckelway@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6601.