BALTIMORE — We’re learning more about Javier Cotto, the 44 year old barber, one of two men gunned down at their own barbershops over the weekend.
They called him Javi for short. He was much more than a barber. He was a football dad, a friend and a counselor to everyone who sat in his chair which makes it even harder for folks to take in the news that he was murdered over the weekend.
"Been knowing him for about 15-20 years. There's nothing he wouldn’t do for anybody. It hurts. It hurts me to come right here and stand right here and see this,” Cotto’s client shared.
It was no easy task for a long-time friend mustering up the strength to lay these flowers down in Javier Cotto's honor.
Just like the revolving barber's pole outside of the Crown Barbershop on Eastern Avenue, loyal clients say he was constant, consistent day in and day out which assured those close to Javier, he’d always be around.
On Saturday, that changed just before three while his friend was making a trip to the store when chaos erupted.
"I heard the gunshots while I was going to the store but I didn't know that he was getting shot. when I called him to make my appointment for my haircut he didn't respond to me for my appointment,” he said.
Then he got the call that Javier was dead.
"I didn't believe it but then I got this gut feeling. You know how you get this gut feeling in your stomach and I walked around here and I saw all of the police around here.
WMAR-2 News obtained camera footage of Carlos Ortega moments before he entered the barbershop.
He's spotted walking up at 2:53 and by 2:54 you see him again walking away with his gun in plain sight.
Loved ones question why this all happened, why Ortega took a man away from his family leaving a hole in the shop his colleagues say will never be filled again.
"A beautiful dad a good dad a humbled dad very humble. If you’re in a situation and you have a problem, he'd help you with that problem. He would talk to you about the problem. There’s nothing at all I can say bad about him,” he shared.
While we wait for information from police concerning a motive in this shooting, the family is planning to honor Javier on Thursday at 6 p.m. with a candle light vigil.
The family has a $10,000 goal they’re hoping to reach to bury Javier Cotto.
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