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Family identifies man killed in overnight shooting; police say victim was targeted

Posted at 10:37 PM, Nov 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-13 22:38:34-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Police are investigating after they say a man was shot seven times and left in the middle of a Grand Rapids neighborhood.

Gerald Love, owner of Brother Love Towing. Courtesy Love's family.

Family say Gerald Love, 46, was shot and killed Monday around 9:30 p.m., when police found him in the 400 block of Crawford St SE, near Madison & Hall. Investigators say Love was lying in the middle of the street with several gunshot wounds in the head and lower torso.

Love recently took over his father's business, Brother Love Towing on 621 Eastern Ave SE, after his father passed about a year ago from cancer according to family.

Longtime friends and employees at Ernie's Barber and Beauty Salon across the street say Love was a "stand-up family man."

“I’ve known him for about 20-25 years," said Treavis Gates, barber and manager at Ernie's.

"I would describe him as a real good person, like you know, down to earth, very family oriented, stand-up guy. Like he was the type of guy who’d give you the shirt off his back."

Love passed away early Tuesday morning from his injuries.

"It’s disturbing," said Michael T. Brown, community member and Ernie's customer. "It’s an emotional situation where you hate to have anyone pass away, and it’s just so unfair. So we’re all grieving."

"[Love] was a role model for business organizations around here to show them that it can happen: you have to take chances sometimes, as far as running the business, and he did that and it was successful and now he’s gone," said Brown.

Grand Rapids Police say that the incident does not appear to be a random incident and was intentional.

No suspect information is available at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.