A busy Bronx shoe store near the zoo became the scene of a mass shooting on a snowy Tuesday just before Christmas 1995. Kyong Bae, 41, was at Little Chester Shoe Store with her husband celebrating their second wedding anniversary when a 22-year-old man, Michael Vernon, entered and opened fire with a 9mm pistol. Accounts differ on motive: some reports say an argument over sneakers set him off, others call it a planned robbery that went wrong. Vernon had a history of mental illness, including paranoid schizophrenia, and a criminal record.

When the shooting ended five people were dead and three critically wounded. Among the dead were Kyong Bae, Maria Carrasquillo, 38, and her sons Ricardo Gonzalez, 13, and Rafael Gonzalez, 12, and 25-year-old Henry W. Lucero Inga. Vernon fled, took a hostage, was wounded in a brief shootout after an officer was flagged down, and was captured by nearby police.

Vernon was indicted on dozens of counts, including ten counts of first-degree murder; his trial included an insanity defense and prosecutors said the attack was a bungled robbery. The jury later found him guilty on five counts of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder, and he was sentenced to life on November 14, 1997. Does anyone have memories of Little Chester Shoe Store or the people inside that day who could add detail?