Frantic 911 Calls Offer No Clues in Wendy’s Shooting
More than two days after a bloody rampage at a Wendy’s restaurant near West Palm Beach, authorities were still trying to figure out what made the gunman — a 60-year-old landscaper with no previous criminal record — suddenly snap and turn so violent.
For now, Alburn Edward Blake, a father who had several failed relationships, remains an enigma to investigators in Palm Beach County.
Authorities have released tapes of the 911 calls made in connection with the shooting, but they shed no light on what motivated Blake to open fire inside the restaurant.
The calls, in which the callers are not identified by name, reflect the chaotic scene:
"I’m at Wendy’s in Palm Beach, Florida, and I just got shot," said a man bleeding from his arm.
"Gunshots just got fired. Oh my God," said a woman who ran from the restaurant. She later told the dispatcher, "I was just standing away from the dining room when I just heard five shots, and all the crew members just ran out here . . . I just grabbed my phone and ran outside."
One call came from a man saying he was with the security company ADT and was reporting an alarm at the Wendy’s. A dispatcher told him "we’re already there."
Meanwhile, funeral arrangements were finalized for Rafael "Ray" Vazquez, a Palm Beach County fire rescue lieutenant who was shot and killed in the restaurant by Blake, who then injured four others before killing himself.
Family, friends and members of the firefighting community will remember Vazquez, 42, during a memorial service at 11 a.m. Friday at the Cruzan Amphitheatre, formerly the Sound Advice Amphitheater, at 601-7 Sansbury Way, in West Palm Beach. It is open to the public.
After the service, a procession will leave the amphitheater and head to E. Earl Smith & Son Funeral Home, 1032 N. Dixie Hwy., in Lake Worth.
At the funeral home, taps will be played and a flag will be presented to his family. There will be no burial, fire rescue officials said.
Vazquez, who was a firefighter in Lake Park before joining Palm Beach County fire rescue in 2001, leaves behind a wife and five children, ages 4 to 21.
His wife, Michele, a corporal with the Palm Springs Police Department, will speak with reporters for the first time since the shooting at a news conference Thursday morning.
Donations for the Vazquez family can be sent to the Palm Beach County Firefighters Benevolent Fund, 2328 S. Congress Ave., Suite 2C, Palm Springs, FL 33406. In the memo field, write: Vazquez family.
On Monday, Vazquez met his wife and their 4-year-old son for lunch at the Wendy’s restaurant at Military Trail and Cherry Road near West Palm Beach.
When Blake entered the dining area — clutching a semiautomatic handgun — Vazquez was trying to exchange a kids’ meal promotional toy for his son. Officials say he was the first customer shot.
Blake then began firing wildly, striking four other customers, before turning the gun on himself. The four others who were shot are recovering in different Palm Beach County hospitals.
Miami Herald staff writer Diana Moskovitz contributed to this report.
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