passing of an icon

rocky tucker, who owned and ran rocky's liquor store, was murdered in his driveway over the weekend.

rocky was responsible for generations of emory parties. his store was the go-to place for errr, supplies. going to rocky's was a rite of passage for emory freshman.

this is really sad. the emails have just started rolling in.

here's the ajc article:

Store owner's killing leaves friends aghast
Chandler Brown, Mary Lou Pickel - Staff
Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Luis Olguin bought his first beer at Rocky's Package Store on Briarcliff Road when he was a student at Emory University.

"He was such a nice guy," Olguin, now 26, said of the store's namesake, Shamsher "Rocky" Tucker, who was killed over the weekend. "He knew his customers by name. He was an Emory icon."

The longtime store owner was gunned down early Sunday in the driveway of his Stone Mountain home, police say.

Tucker, 34, who recently got married, worked at the store late into Saturday night, police and friends said, before heading home with his wife, Rupinder, in their new BMW.

When they pulled into their driveway on Deer Lake Trail about 1 a.m. Sunday, at least two armed men in a black SUV blocked the car, according to family friend Jawad Shah, who said he heard the wife describe the crime to police. Police and Shah said Tucker pulled a gun from under his seat and fired. At least one of the gunmen returned fire, hitting Tucker, police said. He died in his wife's arms, Shah said.

Tucker, whose funeral was attended by about 350 people Monday, also leaves behind a daughter from a previous relationship, an older brother and his parents."It's torn off a part of me," said longtime friend Pawan Kapoor.

"He didn't care what color you look like or what religion you had," Shah said, adding that the couple returned from their honeymoon the week before the shooting. "He was a wonderful human being. If you meet him once, you'll always remember him."

No arrests had been made Monday evening, said DeKalb County police spokesman Herschel Grangent. Tucker had taken home the store receipts and intended to deposit them Monday morning, Shah said. Shah said the gunmen did not take the money.

As friends and family members mourned Monday afternoon, customers dropped off flowers and cards at the darkened store, which is in a strip mall near LaVista Road.

"We raise a toast to you. We'll miss you buddy," read one of the cards. Said another: "A good guy doesn't deserve this."

One woman collapsed into sobs when a bystander told her Tucker was dead.

"Oh my God, I can't believe he's gone," she cried, running to her car.

"That's the kind of customers he had," said Irv Christiansen, a beer distributor who knew Tucker well. "He didn't always have the lowest prices, but people kept coming back because he treated them right."