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09th Sep 2017

Father shot in face while protecting two-year-old from carjackers

Gerard Grandzol died at the scene.

Jade Hayden

gerard grandzol

A man has been killed while trying to protect his two-year-old daughter from carjackers.

Gerard Grandzol was shot in the face twice when he refused to give his car keys to two men.

His daughter had been sitting in the back seat at the time.

Philadelphia police have said that the father-of-two gave the men his wallet, but would not let them have the vehicle.

Homicide caption John Ryan said: “They wanted the car; he wouldn’t give up the car. And they shot him for it.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYy1xs0lFZY/

Gerard’s wife, Kristen, told KYW Newsradio that her husband’s death was “not fair.”

“He was just the best father to our two girls that you could even imagine.

He was welcoming to everyone in the neighborhood. Everybody loved him and he was just the best.

Those two gunshots just destroyed my life and my two daughters don’t have a father now. I have a six-week-old daughter and a two-and-a-half-year-old who saw the whole thing and I don’t know if she’ll ever be right.”

The investigation is ongoing.