GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Anthony Smith, 51, was a friendly face for customers at the Food Lion on East Market Street in Greensboro. The death of the father of two shocked and saddened the community.
Diana Bass, a member of the community who frequently shops at the Food Lion, said, "He would always talk to you. He was very friendly, and I was just stunned when I heard this the other day. I thought about his wife, his children and it just touched me. He was very, a very nice man, and I just hate it that something like this had to happen, especially to someone so nice."
Smith was working his job as a security guard at the grocery store Saturday night when a lone suspect entered the grocery store. He immediately approached Smith in the vestibule of the store and shot him in the back of the head at close range.
Lt. Chris Schultheis from the Greensboro Police Department said, "He (the suspect) is described as a light-skinned black male, in his early 30s, approximately 5 foot 10 to 6 feet tall, heavy set...at the time of the incident he was wearing all dark clothing, black pants, a black sweatshirt, his face was partially covered with a black cloth, and he was wearing black Nike tennis shoes."
Police ask that if you know anything about the suspect or the incident in general, please either call Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000 or Detective A.R. Hinson at 336-574-4004.
Schultheis went on to say, "We're still in the early stages. We're still interviewing witnesses, and we're looking for possible connections with anybody he may have had confrontations with through his work as a security guard. So we're still pursuing those avenues."
Smith's friends have set up a Go Fund Me page for funeral expenses and donations to the family. The page is open to the public at https://www.gofundme.com/anthonycsmith?ssid=765994409&pos=1.