Left: Manuel Gonzalez; Right: Dulce Gonzalez (GoFundMe)
Where love, joy, and excitement should reign, a St. Louis family is instead overcome with grief, loss, and fear after a home invasion turned a wedding reception into a violent crime scene.
Francisco Manuel Gonzalez, 32, married the love of his life, Dulce Pena-Villa Gonzalez, 32, on the evening of June 28. The ceremony was small and held at the family’s home on Neosho Street in the Dutchtown neighborhood, on the sprawling, suburban city’s south side.
As the celebration went on into the early morning hours of Saturday, two masked men with guns arrived through an opening along the driveway and changed the course of several lives forever.
The incident occurred just before 1 a.m. on July 29, according to a press release by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
“Witnesses told officers that several people were gathered in the rear yard of a residence when two black men wearing ski masks entered the yard,” according to police. “One of the men had two handguns and they announced a robbery.”
One of the two assailants began searching through the pockets of the wedding guests, according to law enforcement. Meanwhile, his partner stood behind Gonzalez — with both guns trained on the groom.
Yaribeth Peña, the bride’s sister, said she ran inside during the initial moments of the attack, according to St. Louis-based NBC affiliate KSDK. While inside, she heard a lone gunshot.
“At first I thought it was a joke,” Peña told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I never thought something like this would happen to us.”
At the time, only a few guests remained.
Gonzalez was shot in the head. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he is currently fighting for his life in critical condition.
“We are hoping he pulls through,” Peña told KSDK. “(My sister) is distraught, she’s depressed, she’s heartbroken. They were saying my brother-in-law was going for his wallet and maybe they thought he was going for a weapon,”
The bride’s sister shares the driveway where the invaders arrived, according to St. Louis-based Fox affiliate KTVI. The attempted robbery and shooting all occurred within a matter of some 30 seconds, Peña said. In the end, the two men fled on foot without getting anything they demanded.
“They took nothing, yet they took everything from us,” Peña told KTVI. “He’s a good father. A good husband to my sister. He’s a hard worker. He’s just an all-around good person that, I don’t know, he didn’t deserve this.”
A family friend started a GoFundMe to help with the aftermath of the horrific wedding night shooting.
“This is for Dulce,” the online fundraiser reads. “The family was robbed at gunpoint and her husband was shot in the head. He’s alive and in critical condition. We need prayers that he will come through this. In the meantime, the family will need help with expenses, including medical bills and the loss of his income. Any support that can be afforded to this sweet family will be greatly appreciated.”
The newlyweds had been together for some 10 years before finally formalizing their relationship in an intimate ceremony where they were surrounded by family and friends. They have two children together, 9-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy.
According to the bride’s sister, there is surveillance footage showing the men running away after the shooting. And, she told KSDK, the two men also appeared on footage from roughly an hour before — at around 12:07 a.m. — riding a bicycle past the house as Gonzalez ushered some exiting guests back to their cars.
Family members remain hopeful.
“My grandpa said he moved his hand a little, which is a good sign,” the bride’s niece, Jennifer Peña, told the Post-Dispatch. “He’s getting better, and he’s fighting for his life, and for his family.”
As of this writing, the investigation into the incident is said to be ongoing. Police are still trying to identify the two masked men.
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