The wife of a security guard who was gunned down Friday in Prince George’s County is sharing her heartbreak.
Willie Tate, 43, confronted an armed shoplifter at a Giant grocery store in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Friday. The two exchanged gunfire in the store, and both died.
Shaunte Tate said she looked forward to getting old with her husband.
“It just seems so unreal that the love of my life is actually gone," she said.
Police said 20-year-old Zaila Akida pulled a gun from her backpack and opened fire on the security guard at the store in the Eastover Shopping Center.
Shaunte Tate said she knew his job came with risk, but she’s devastated to know he lost his life over something so trivial.
“If he knew that she needed help or that she was really hungry, he would’ve took her over to the register and bought the food. It didn’t have to go the way that it did – at all," she said.
Any time her husband worked at that Giant location he would text her every hour to let her know that he was OK due to the crime in the area. But on Friday, she didn't get those texts.
“I’m still just trying to wake up from a really, really bad dream,” Shaunte Tate said.
She described Willie as someone with a heart of gold.
“He died saving people," she said.
A day before his death, one conversation in particular sticks out to her.
“I said ‘where do you see yourself in 50 years?’ and he said ‘right next to you…pushing each other in wheel chairs,'" she said. "It’s just hard because it's like we just had our first year anniversary.”
Wille Tate will be laid to rest on Saturday.
Stay with News4 for more on this developing story.
