CHARLOTTE — Investigators in a deadly shooting that happened this week in southeast Charlotte say the victim caught two people trying to steal a catalytic converter before he was shot.
Albert Lowery was a father, grandfather, and a caretaker. His son told Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz that he dropped his wife off at work at a daycare on Sharon Amity Road early Monday, then spotted two men trying to steal from the parking lot.
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“My dad was the person in the family that held everybody together,” said Xavier Lowery.
Albert’s loved ones are heartbroken and devastated as they navigate a life without him.
“Right now we’re just going through - devastated. This was unexpected. He was already going through health problems, so we were getting through that with him and this happens. It was just so unexpected and random,” Xavier said.
Police say Lowery was shot and killed seemingly at random in the parking lot. On Thursday, police arrested two men: Rethanachan Em and Borein Ngiem -- both are charged with murder.
According to court records, two and a half hours before Lowery was shot, he called 911 and said he just had to “confront a couple of guys trying to remove a catalytic converter” from another car in the parking lot. Surveillance cameras captured Lowery confronting them at gunpoint before they took off in a car. Police say they came back and shot Lowery.
“He was just a real good guy. Everybody loved him,” Xavier said.
Detectives tracked the suspects down. Lowery’s family just wants to know why it had to end this way.
“You took a real good person and it’s hurting a lot of people,” Xavier said. “Y’all didn’t have to do that to my father.”
Using surveillance cameras, detectives tracked the suspect’s car to a home. According to court records, one suspect sent the other a text message saying, “Stay lowkey bro.” The suspect had also searched news articles about the homicide.
Both suspects are in jail without bond.
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