Fatal Shooting Outside West Boca Bar Leads To Chaos

BOCA RATON – On Saturday, 25-year-old Christo “Sto” Maccius was shot dead outside O’Connor’s Pub & Package in Sandalfoot Plaza.

People gathered outside the Pub after a few hours of the incident to shed tears as they were in sorrow. The area was full of sadness due to the fatal shooting. Some of them don’t even want to talk; one of the individuals said, “No questions. Please respect our privacy.”

The incident happened around 4:30 a.m. in Sandalfoot Plaza, which is located west of the city off State Road 7 and south of Palmetto Park Road.

Maccius was serving as a substitute teacher and also worked as a security officer at West Boca Raton High School.

Several witnesses at the scene saw it happening. The killing is listed as the 42nd Homicide that happened in Palm Beach County.

Oscar Montes was one of those who were present at the Pub when the incident happened. He said, “I heard about five, six shots. People started running and yelling. I heard someone yell, ‘My younger brother got shot.’ My first instinct was to hide behind the wall. I wasn’t trying to get hurt.”

Then a dark colored motor vehicle was seen escaping the scene at a high rate of speed. Everywhere in the Pub was just sadness. “It was calm. This had nothing to do with O’Connor’s,” he added.

According to Deputy Eric Davis, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, it appears as Maccius and the suspect had ties with each other.

The sheriff’s office looked out in the area around the plaza during the day, while detectives from the office’s Violent Crimes Division worked at the shooting scene. However, no individual was taken into custody on Saturday.

A witness, who requested that his name should not be released, told that the shooter and Maccius had a beef dating back 4 years and that the gunman waited 3 hours outside the Pub for Maccius. He added, “Then he put about six or seven shots in him.”

Nobody from the people present inside O’Connor’s at 8:30 a.m. would speak with The Post on Saturday. One of the employees of the Pub asked the reporters to leave. He said, “We don’t know what happened.”

According to Alan Bernstein, assistant manager of Tire Choice on State Road 7, the area near Sandalfoot Plaza has “deteriorated and gone downhill steadily. He told that in recent years, at least 2 dead bodies were found nearby.

The dead body of 56-year-old Susan Roberts, who was a pharmacist, was found in her motor vehicle in the Watergate Mobile Home Park just south of the plaza on 9th June 2014. In another incident that happened on 6th of August 2012, Antonio Caceres was stabbed to death near Sandalfoot Cove.

Bernstein said he is thinking of taking his licensed gun with him to work with the purpose of safety, “I’d keep it in my car. I’m concerned.”

A person who lives in suburban Boca Raton said crime has become more common in the area along State Road 7 between Palmetto Park Road and the Broward County border. His tools and 2 trailers were recently stolen; prostitutes have approached Tire Choice’s customers as well. He added, “This is not the greatest area. I’d love to move, but I can’t afford to.”

Other individuals who live in the area said that they were shocked getting the news of the fatal shooting.

According to Andre Carniro, who lives eight blocks from Sandalfoot Plaza, “I’ve never seen this before. It’s usually quiet and people mind their own business.”

News Source: www.PalmBeachPost.com