On December 19, 1995, a crowded shoe store near the Bronx Zoo became the scene of a sudden, deadly armed robbery. A 22-year-old man identified as Michael Vernon entered Little Chester Shoes and, according to reports, opened fire with a 9mm handgun after an interaction that some accounts describe as an argument over a pair of sneakers. Five people were killed and three others seriously wounded in the attack.

Among the dead were 25-year-old Henry William Lucero-Inga, 41-year-old Kyong Bae who was the store owner’s wife and reportedly celebrating her second wedding anniversary that day, 38-year-old Maria Carrasquillo, and two boys, Ricardo Gonzalez, 13, and Rafael Gonzalez, 12. The shooter was wounded by a police officer after a woman who escaped the store flagged down police, and he was taken into custody.

Reports note the suspect had a history of mental illness, including paranoid schizophrenia, and prior convictions for assault and robbery. What aspects of the encounter at the store can help explain how a shopping trip turned into mass violence?