NYC community mourns Javier Osorio-Mejia, 31-year-old gunned down in SoHo
NEW YORK - Friends and family are mourning the loss of a 31-year-old man who was gunned down in an apparent ambush in SoHo Tuesday.
Javier Osorio-Mejia was described by those who knew him as a father, friend, confidante, and colleague.
"Everything he did, man, he built it up from from the bottom," one friend told FOX 5.
The entrepreneur and owner of Vault 134, was shot multiple times outside a row of luxury stores in the early morning hours.
Police are still looking for a person of interest in the incident.
A makeshift memorial has been set up outside his former Lower East Side store on Orchard Street.
"I can't believe it, it's like a nightmare," one resident said.
Javier Osorio-Mejia, 'Upscale Cracc'
Javier Osorio-Mejia, also known as "Upscale Cracc" from Bayonne, New Jersey, was a popular high-end sneaker reseller.
He became a mainstay in sneaker releases for selling rare, high-end sneakers to A-list celebrity clientele.
Friends of Mejia told FOX 5 that he had recently celebrated his birthday and was the father of a 2-year-old baby.
"I'm just devastated, and I just want everyone to know he was a good person. He wasn't involved in no foul stuff, he was a humble dude, he helped a lot of people," one of Osorio-Mejia's friends said.
"We all sold our products out that store. That store brought the whole community money. Everything he did, man, he built it up from the bottom, man," another friend said.
Shooting in SoHo
According to police, the incident happened while Mejia was driving around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.
He was shot three times in the right leg and at least one of the bullets pierced his thigh.
"It's my feeling it's not indigenous to a change in SoHo. I mean there's a change citywide in violence. We all know this in all of the boroughs," a witness said.
Significant ballistic evidence was recovered from the ambush, including cash and Mejia's trademark lime green Nike sneakers.
"It's a shame it's happening, and we need a change. We need to get rid of the guns. That is the root of the problem," another witness added.
No arrests have been made and the motive behind the shooting is still unknown at the time.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Friends say even though his life was cut short, his legacy will live on.