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Loved ones are devastated and searching for answers after a man was shot and killed Tuesday while on the job.
The victim, Blaine LaPrairie, 46, worked as a repo man and was repossessing a vehicle when a suspect opened fire and shot him.
Loved ones describe Blaine as a big-hearted, kind and thoughtful man.
“He was a very sweet soul and he would do anything for you,” said Ryan LaPrairie, Blaine’s older brother.
Blaine was repossessing a car at the Jasmine Garden Apartment complex in Compton when he was murdered.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Ryan said tearfully. “I really can’t. And I don’t know what I’m going to do about it. I don’t know how I’m going to get by. I go to sleep crying and I wake up and realize what’s happening and I go and cry again.”
Both Ryan and Blaine drove two trucks for Nation’s Recovery Services, Inc., a business in South El Monte.
“We worked together side by side for 17 years, in different tow trucks, but we worked the same hours at the same time,” Ryan said.
The night Blaine was killed, Ryan had traveled to Orange County for a repossession job while Blaine headed to South L.A.
Despite being veterans of the job, Ryan said he and his brother were aware of the dangers surrounding their specific career.
“We talked about this all the time,” Ryan said. ”This was one of the fears he had, to die the way he actually died.”
Despite wearing a protective vest, Blaine, a jiu-jitsu black belt, died from a single gunshot wound.
Ryan said he now lives with guilt over not taking the South L.A. assignment that night.
“If you love someone, let them know all the time because if you don’t, one day you won’t be able to do it,” he said. “And you’re going to hate yourself for it.”
Blaine was reportedly wearing a body camera when he was killed and there are cameras installed on his tow truck that investigators are likely reviewing.
The shooter has not been identified and no arrests have been made so far. The case remains under investigation.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help Blaine’s family with funeral expenses.
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