POMONA, Calif. (AP) - The parents of a 2-year-old boy killed by a stranger while eating at a Burger King wept Tuesday as they tried to understand why the man walked up to their son and shot him in the head.
The gunman fled after Monday's shooting, but was killed by police after pulling the weapon and telling them, ``shoot me, shoot me.'' The toddler, Osvaldo Martinez, died at a hospital.
``It appeared to be unmotivated,'' police Sgt. Joann Crabb said of the shooting. ``Apparently it was totally unprovoked from what witnesses were saying.''
Osvaldo's parents, Yessenia Rochin and Servando Martinez, huddled underneath a blue blanket on their couch Tuesday and cried as they recalled their little boy.
``He was a very happy child, very loving,'' Rochin said in Spanish. ``He loved to jump. He was everything for me that child, and they killed him. They killed my boy.''
Rochin's sister-in-law, Sylvia Mero, spent Tuesday trying to start a fund to pay for the boy's burial costs and psychological counseling for his two brothers, Omar, 6, and Gerardo, 7. She said the family had gone to the store for soap and stopped at the restaurant at Osvaldo's request.
At the urging of an uncle, Omar tried to explain what happened.
``Osvaldo was on the floor. My mother wanted to get him, but she couldn't because he was full of blood,'' Omar said before he put his face in his hands and started crying.
The shooting sent customers and employees scrambling for cover.
``I heard the mother screaming in Spanish 'Why did you do this to my son?''' said employee Arturo Flores, 22, who was shaking as he recalled the attack. ``She was in shock, she saw her son covered in blood.''
Authorities were waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine if the gunman, Daniel Moreno, 24, was under the influence of drugs at the time of shooting. Flores said the gunman appeared to be on drugs, adding: ``He killed him just to kill him.''
Moreno and a friend fled the restaurant, but were spotted near a phone booth about a block from the Burger King. Crabb said officers contacted Moreno at the phone booth, and he told them, ``shoot me, shoot me,'' Crabb said.
At least one officer used pepper spray on Moreno, but he allegedly pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at officers, prompting them to fire.
``The guy was trying to commit suicide. He wanted to die,'' witness Leonard Counce, 50, said.
Moreno's friend and two others were questioned by police, but released after investigators determined they had no involvement in the shooting.
Crabb said the slaying appeared to be an isolated incident and was not gang-related. Graffiti at the site where Moreno died said ``RIP Danny Boy'' with gang lingo.
Pomona is 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Family members said Martinez, who polishes wheel rims at a nearby factory, moved his family to Pomona from Compton two years ago because they believed it would be a safer place to raise their children.
Martinez, 29, and Rochin, 25, are both from the state of Jalisco in Mexico.
The gunman fled after Monday's shooting, but was killed by police after pulling the weapon and telling them, ``shoot me, shoot me.'' The toddler, Osvaldo Martinez, died at a hospital.
``It appeared to be unmotivated,'' police Sgt. Joann Crabb said of the shooting. ``Apparently it was totally unprovoked from what witnesses were saying.''
Osvaldo's parents, Yessenia Rochin and Servando Martinez, huddled underneath a blue blanket on their couch Tuesday and cried as they recalled their little boy.
``He was a very happy child, very loving,'' Rochin said in Spanish. ``He loved to jump. He was everything for me that child, and they killed him. They killed my boy.''
Rochin's sister-in-law, Sylvia Mero, spent Tuesday trying to start a fund to pay for the boy's burial costs and psychological counseling for his two brothers, Omar, 6, and Gerardo, 7. She said the family had gone to the store for soap and stopped at the restaurant at Osvaldo's request.
At the urging of an uncle, Omar tried to explain what happened.
``Osvaldo was on the floor. My mother wanted to get him, but she couldn't because he was full of blood,'' Omar said before he put his face in his hands and started crying.
The shooting sent customers and employees scrambling for cover.
``I heard the mother screaming in Spanish 'Why did you do this to my son?''' said employee Arturo Flores, 22, who was shaking as he recalled the attack. ``She was in shock, she saw her son covered in blood.''
Authorities were waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine if the gunman, Daniel Moreno, 24, was under the influence of drugs at the time of shooting. Flores said the gunman appeared to be on drugs, adding: ``He killed him just to kill him.''
Moreno and a friend fled the restaurant, but were spotted near a phone booth about a block from the Burger King. Crabb said officers contacted Moreno at the phone booth, and he told them, ``shoot me, shoot me,'' Crabb said.
At least one officer used pepper spray on Moreno, but he allegedly pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at officers, prompting them to fire.
``The guy was trying to commit suicide. He wanted to die,'' witness Leonard Counce, 50, said.
Moreno's friend and two others were questioned by police, but released after investigators determined they had no involvement in the shooting.
Crabb said the slaying appeared to be an isolated incident and was not gang-related. Graffiti at the site where Moreno died said ``RIP Danny Boy'' with gang lingo.
Pomona is 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Family members said Martinez, who polishes wheel rims at a nearby factory, moved his family to Pomona from Compton two years ago because they believed it would be a safer place to raise their children.
Martinez, 29, and Rochin, 25, are both from the state of Jalisco in Mexico.