AutoZone employee killed at Wichita store had ‘a heart of gold,’ brother says
Family and friends of the Wichita auto parts store employee gunned down over the weekend described him Monday as a “great guy” with a “kind soul” who was always ready with a smile and funny comment to brighten the day.
“The best of the best,” Brian Pearson said of his 40-year-old brother, Nicholas Blue, who was killed Sunday.
Blue worked at the AutoZone store at 910 S. Oliver but dreamt of pursuing a career in the criminal justice field and loved sports so much that he could recite statistics from memory like they were the ABCs.
Watching movies and wrestling and spending time with family were among his favorite pasttimes.
“You wanted him to win. He just had a heart of gold,” Pearson told The Eagle in a phone call Monday. “He was so, so smart.”
News that Blue died in such a senseless way has left him and his family reeling, he said.
“He was the sweetest guy that you will ever know, and he got killed in an AutoZone,” Pearson said. “He’s the last person that you would think would die like that.”
Police say Blue was on duty at the AutoZone at Oliver and Lincoln when a man walked into the store around 9 p.m. Sunday, pulled a handgun and fired at him. The store was open for business at the time and two other employees were inside but no customers.
“We don’t know what the motive is. We don’t know if it’s ... robbery or if it was something else yet,” Capt. Jason Stephens said during a Monday morning news briefing.
After the shooting, the gunman ran off, leaving Blue to die.
“Nick was a friend to everyone he met and his love was infectious,” a relative, Robert Foster, said in messages with The Eagle. “We are completely devastated by this senseless loss.”
A surveillance photo released by authorities shows the suspected gunman wearing a mask over his face, a covering on his head, pants, and a dark long-sleeved shirt with white stars and stripes.
He should be considered “armed and dangerous,” police said in an afternoon news release.
“I want to reach out to anyone out there that has any information about this,” Stephens said Monday, encouraging the public to share tips with Wichita police detectives at 316-268-4407 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111, www.wichitasedgwickcountycrimestoppers.com or through the P3 mobile app. Tips can also be reported to the See Something, Say Something hotline at 316-519-2282.
Pearson told The Eagle that his brother “was never involved in any kind of street nonsense” and “did everything right” in his life.
He doesn’t know why anyone would want to hurt him.
“It’s so heartbreaking,” Pearson said. “If somebody like Nick can get killed for no reason, what chance do the rest of us have?”
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 11:07 AM.
