The San Diego Police Department announced a $5,000 reward today for information leading to an arrest in the three-year-old unresolved fatal shooting of Gregory Izik Ruffin Jr., in front of a Lincoln Park-area apartment complex.
Authorities said the 22-year-old victim was a “very non-confrontational'' young man, who left a friend's residence on Feb. 24, 2019, in the 300 block of 47th Street when someone opened fire on him shortly after 11 p.m. Ruffin collapsed onto a sidewalk and died at the scene.
Police received no calls of any fights or other incidents in the area at the time of the shooting. FOX5 San Diego reported Ruffin was enrolled at Grossmont College.
Police say they are convinced that some of those who live in the neighborhood just east of Interstate 805 and south of Market Street know who is responsible for the slaying, but are unwilling or afraid to come forward.
The victim's family added $4,000 to a $1,000 reward fund in the case previously posted by San Diego County Crime Stoppers as a financial incentive for any information.
The SDPD released a video about the slaying, describing the impact Ruffin’s death had on his family.
“The phone call I got was the next day, actually,'' recalled Gregory Ruffin Sr., who referred to his late son by his middle name. “His mother called me and said he didn't come home. And I was puzzled, you know, blown away, like, `What do you mean, he didn't come home?'''
The victim's mother then informed his father that police had contacted her and told her they needed to talk to her about her son.
“So, at that point we started panicking, thinking obviously something bad had happened,'' the father said. “But … we didn't imagine, you know, that he had been shot.''
The mourning father urged anyone with information about the case to contact investigators.
“Someone knows, has got information about this,'' the father said. “I would like for them to come forward. Just because it's the right thing to do. It would help us tremendously to at least have some answers to all our questions — you know, of why and how, and bring to justice the people that did this so they no longer could do this to another family.''
Anyone with information about the case are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 or contact the agency online at sdcrimestoppers.org.
