Police in Gary, Indiana, have arrested two juveniles in connection with the death of a retired firefighter who was fatally shot during a robbery early Saturday morning, according to city officials.
Security camera video shows a portion of the incident that occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m. at a Clark gas station, 2295 Grant St. Initially, two people were seen walking around the building just moments before Wallace Broadnax, 70, parked at a gas pump.
Within a minute, one of the individuals pulled a gun on the 70-year-old while the second person grabbed him, as shown in the footage. The victim was then shot and killed.
Broadnax spent 25 years as a Gary firefighter before retiring approximately 10 years ago. Current Gary Fire Chief Sean O'Donnell met Broadnax in the mid-1990s, a few years before O'Donnell joined the department.
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"Wally was a great guy, he was very nice to me," the fire chief said. "...I had worked in the funeral home industry. Wally did too. So, had a little bit of common there, and got to learn about him as a sports player.”
In the 1960s, Broadnax helped his high school basketball team win a state championship and was later inducted into Indiana's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Mark Wallace, Gary's deputy fire chief, knew Broadnax during his more than 30 years with the department.
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"He was a exemplary firefighter, a great engineer," he said. "He got us to where we needed to be. Our hearts go out to the Broadnax family.”
