George was a war veteran and hero who was murdered at age 87 by two neighborhood teens who said he “disrespected” them by shoving them away when they went to rob him.
Man shot in his driveway as he arrived home
By DENISE NAKANO Fri, Aug 20, 2010
Ceslestine Bullock is in disbelief over the murder of her 87-year old neighbor George Greaves. Bullock heard two gunshots and witnessed what she describes as a woman wearing a Muslim headscarf and a man in a black shirt and shorts run from his house. “They ran around toward Greenwood, she looked back a couple times and just kept running and I would have never thought they shot the man, never,” she said. “He bothered no one.” Police are questioning two teenagers from the West Oak Lane neighborhood, where Greaves was shot and killed.
Myrtle Ryan is Greaves closest living relative. She had the grim task of identifying her cousin — a man she describes as a private and kind person. “It’s sad,” she said. “You work your entire life, you retire and have to have something like that happen.”
She says the former body builder, who was a World War II veteran serving as a Seabee in the Navy, was anything but frail — even at age 87. She’s convinced he would have fought back and it appeared his killers got away with no money. “They didn’t get in the house apparently because the wallet was there, and the keys to the car were there, and yet the door was open… it wasn’t open, but it was unlocked,” Ryan said.
Neighbors created a memorial that continues to grow in front of his house.
George, who many knew by his nickname, “Bud” was living his golden years, enjoying a peaceful life. “He was a man’s man. He fished. Went down the shore. We had a place up in the mountains. He would come up and ski,” Ryan said.
Neighbors say what happened on their quiet 7900 block of Pickering, was so sudden and so unexpected, through police believe the two involved in the crime may be responsible for a nearby robbery — just hours earlier.
