ALLENTOWN, PA – District Attorney Jim Martin announced on Thursday the results of an investigation into a homicide that took place on June 4, in Allentown.
The deceased, Edgar Gonzalez, 22, was shot during an altercation in the parking lot of Auto Zone, located at 1871 South 5th Street, Allentown. Lehigh County Coroner, Daniel A. Buglio, declared Gonzalez’s death a homicide.
The investigation, conducted by the Allentown Police and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force, revealed a series of confrontations between two groups prior to the shooting. One group, traveling in a Kia sedan, included five individuals, among them Gonzalez and Joshua Ortiz, 27, of Allentown. The second group consisted of six adults and a 3-year-old child at Auto Zone.
The Kia occupants, identified as the aggressors, followed and confronted the second group, blocking their vehicle at the Taco Bell drive-through on S. 4th Street. During this incident, Ortiz reportedly exited the Kia with a semi-automatic handgun.