AIXA M. PASCUAL
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The brothers of a man fatally shot by police say they don’t understand what led Mario Moncayo to go berserk early Thursday, beating four young children and his wife.
He was gunned down after two officers stormed into his trailer-park residence as he was beating a 10-year-old boy with a fist-sized rock, a police spokesman said. Moncayo ignored their order to stop and was lifting the rock again when the shots rang out.
The man was shot in the head, said Shane Garrison, vice president of Puckett EMS, which responded to the call.
Under Moncayo’s body, police found the man’s year-old grandson, not breathing and blue. Paramedics quickly revived the tot.
Early Thursday afternoon, Laurencio Moncayo stood in tears in front of his brother’s trailer home at Castlewood Estates in Mableton, near Six Flags Over Georgia, wondering how it all went so awry.
Two of nine brothers from Hidalgo, Mexico, all living in metro Atlanta, last saw each other Monday, when Mario, 34, skipped work to visit his big brother, Laurencio, in Forest Park.
Other than missing that day’s work, Laurencio said nothing appeared to be amiss.
The four children involved in the incident remained hospitalized Thursday evening, though none had life-threatening injuries, Cobb County police spokesman Wayne Delk said. The other children were a 1 1/2-year-old girl and a 9-year-old son. Police would not release the names of the children because they are minors.
Moncayo’s wife, Maribel Avalos, 45, was released from Atlanta Medical Center on Thursday evening.
Police responded to a domestic disturbance call about 6 a.m. and found Avalos and a child outside the home on Whitney Court.
She told police that her husband was in the house and that he had assaulted the family.
When the first ambulance arrived at 6:22 a.m., the crew treated visible head injuries to two children and Avalos, Garrison said.
Two of Moncayo’s brothers, who live in Forest Park, showed up at the scene about 1 p.m. They came from work after receiving a call from the man’s brother-in-law. They were shocked by the news of their brother’s death.
Virgilio Moncayo, 30, said Mario had been in the United States for about 13 years.
His brothers and neighbors described him as a hard-working, quiet guy. Though police said Mario Moncayo was 34, Virgilio said his brother was 32.
“He was quiet,” Virgilio Moncayo in Spanish. “He didn’t bother anyone.”
He said he saw his brother about every two weeks. He had been at a party at Mario’s house about two weeks ago.
Moncayo, his brothers and neighbors say, landscaped yards and cleaned offices.
Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.
Photo: MIKKI K. HARRIS / StaffParamedics remove the body of Mario Moncayo from the crime scene on Thursday morning.
Photo: MIKKI K. HARRIS / StaffLaurencio Moncayo, in tears, could not come up with a theory that would explain his brother Mario’s rage.
Map: ELIZABETH LANDT / StaffFATAL SHOOTINGPolice say they shot a man as he was beating a boy with a rock inside a trailer home on Whitney Court. Map locates Whitney Court. Inset map of area of detail is in Cobb County.
March 17, 2006