Adult Children Are Left Heartbroken And Terrified After Murder Of Woom Sing Tse, 71, In Chinatown: 'Am I Going To Be Safe?'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A heartbroken family has also been left in also in fear for their own safety – after their 71-year-old father, Woon Sing Tse, was shot and killed in broad daylight in Chinatown this week.
The crime has the entire community on edge. Tse's family spoke exclusively to CBS 2's Jermont Terry.
"My dad was kind, hardworking, so generous," said Susan Lam.
That is why the three siblings – Lam, William Tse, and Carina Set – cannot believe their loving father is no longer here.
"He wanted to do the best," said Set. "He wanted to do what was right, and that was just to take care of his family."
Tse was on his way to buy a newspaper when he was shot multiple times and killed at 262 W. 23rd Pl., near Princeton Avenue, in broad daylight at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The scene is near John C. Haines Elementary School, where Set – Tse's youngest daughter – works.
"We were on lockdown, OK?" Set said. "And I knew that this was a serious lockdown."
At the time, Set did not know that the police activity steps from the school would touch her so personally. Once outside, she quickly discovered her connection.
"I ran of there. I ran out of there best I could, and all this was taped up, and they allowed me to the tape to walk to my husband's car," Set said.
The void is felt not only by Tse's three grown children, nine grandchildren, and loving wife of more than 50 years – but the entire Chinatown community.
"My mom and dad lived her for over 40-plus years if not longer, you know, and so this is their community. This is their home," said Lam "So the question is, am I going to be safe? Can I walk down the street like a normally do?"
Police arrested and charged Alphonso Joyner, 23, in Tse's murder.
At a bond hearing Thursday, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney James Murphy said the shooting was captured on surveillance video, and the footage shows Joyner pull up next to Tse in a two-door sedan with tinted windows while headed east on 23rd Place, and start shooting without provocation.
Joyner fired seven shots from the car, before pausing, and then drove up closer to Tse, and fired six more shots, according to Murphy.
"The victim appeared to cover his head and ears after these initial shots, and then his body jerked, and he fell to the ground after being hit," Murphy said.
Audio from surveillance cameras captured Tse yelling from the ground.
Joyner then pulled his car into oncoming traffic, got out of the vehicle, and said, "Hey! Hey!" calmly walked up to Tse as the victim was lying on the ground, and fired eight more quick shots, Murphy said. Joyner then fired one more shot "before he turned and calmly walked back to his vehicle" and drove off, Murphy said.
Tse was suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his forehead, the top of his head, his right hip, the back of his neck, and his right temple.
"This was an execution," a judge said in ordering Joyner held without bond.
There is no known reason why Tse was targeted.
"(Joyner) is where he needs to be," Lam said, "That he will not cause harm to anyone else is really what our prayer is. That's a sigh of relief."
Yet the family's hearts ache for what was taken from them.
"We don't have the answers right now. The good Lord Himself knows why," said William Tse. "But right now, it's just we need to honor his memory more than anything else."
Tse retired a few years ago, after running a family business in Chinatown for decades. On Friday night, his family plans to attend a huge memorial in the community.
