FLORISSANT, Mo. – A family is mourning the loss of a father and premature baby all in the same week, according to KTVI.
Scott Beary, 43, was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon at Show-Me’s restaurant in Florissant, Missouri by another patron.
Beary and a coworker had stopped at Show-Me’s for lunch while waiting for a work truck to get fixed, when a conversation with some other patrons suddenly escalated.
Witnesses told police the shooting was spurred by a discussion over the size of a German shepherd belonging to the gunman’s friend, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The friend reportedly claimed that the dog weighed 290 pounds, and Beary said he didn’t believe it, joking about how he was 325 pounds and couldn’t imagine a dog his own size.
Witnesses told the paper the disagreement wasn’t all that heated, however, and Beary had even exchanged phone numbers with the gunman after the two talked about possible construction jobs earlier.
As the gunman and Beary both prepared to walk out, however, witnesses said the man called Beary a fat (expletive). Beary walked up to him and asked why he would say that, and, shortly after, there were gunshots, according to the Post-Dispatch.
“A guy yelled something horrible and mean and Scott turned around and Ryan Jacobsmeyer (Scott’s coworker) said next thing you know, he heard four pops,” Jeana Sellenschuetter, Beary’s boss at CSM Construction, told KTVI.
Show-Me’s owner described Jacobsmeyer as “more than heroic.” Despite being shot in the arm, Jacobsmeyer tried his best to revive Beary, who died at the scene.
“(Scott) would have done anything for you, best heart ever, hard worker, baseball coach, great dad, I mean great dad,” Sellenschuetter said.
It was the second tragic loss for the Beary family in less than a week, coming days after they lost their premature baby girl, who was born at 22 weeks.
“Jocelyn was born 14 ounces and she lived for 11 days and we buried her Friday. It’s all new and we’re still in shock about the baby, so this is even more shocking. So now Christy Beary is planning another funeral and we were just there not even a week ago, and we’re going to be there again saying goodbye to an unbelievable guy,” Sellenschuetter said.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe page in the memory of Scott and Jocelyn to help Beary’s wife Christy with the emotional and financial hardship. He also leaves behind three children, according to the fundraiser.
“He’s up there with baby J holding her and loving her,” Sellenschuetter said. “He is the greatest guy and I just wonder if the guy even knew what Scott had been through, would it have been any different?”