RALEIGH, N.C. — The best day of Tyrek Burton’s family’s lives quickly turned into the worst Saturday night. They spent the evening dancing the night away with loved ones around them.
His younger sister Brittany lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and doesn’t understand how something like this could happen.
“We were having the time of our lives and it’s like in the blink of an eye, it was all just stolen away from us,” said Brittany. “He was one of the coolest people I know. Could walk into a room and that smile.”
Burton was raised in Roxboro, North Carolina along with his other three siblings.
He and his new wife had been together for 16 years, had four daughters between them, and were making plans to expand their family even more.
Just hours after the couple got married, tragedy struck as Burton was leaving the wedding venue. He was under the impression that his new bride was already home and when she called to tell him she wasn’t, he went back to get her.
“He made a U-turn and I guess didn’t see somebody. Cut them off and that person followed him back to the park,” Brittany said.
Greensboro police responded to the Barber Park Events Center just before 9 p.m. on Saturday night after a reported shooting. The victim had been identified as Tyrek Burton, 37, the man who had just gotten married there hours before. The gunman is still on the loose.
“There are cameras. This was at a public park and there were multiple eyewitnesses including one of his daughters and it was done in front of his wife,” said Brittany.
This is a tragedy that the family is still struggling to understand. Tyrek’s 3-year-old daughter has been too occupied with family to ask where her dad is, but when she does ask it’s going to hurt more.
“That’s going to tear Kiara apart. Words can’t describe the type of man they took. He wasn’t an average guy,” said Brittany.
The couple was set to celebrate their honeymoon in Charlotte.
No funeral arrangements have been made for Burton at this time.
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