Bouquets, Prayer at Site Of Md. Slaying

Howard Spinner comforts Dee Adona while they recall the kindness of Seong Hoon No, slain at his family's liquor store. (Linda Davidson - Linda Davidson)

There are plenty of mini-marts and liquor stores closer to Kim Durham's Fort Washington home. But Durham goes only to Fort Washington Liquors, because the two brothers behind the counter have always greeted her warmly and wished her luck with the lottery tickets she would buy.

The brothers, who Durham said were Korean immigrants, also told her the winning lottery numbers when she called the store. So she found it unnerving Saturday afternoon when her call went unanswered.

Watching the evening news that night, she learned why: One of the brothers, 32-year-old Alexandria resident Seong Hoon No, had been fatally shot that afternoon during a struggle with two masked robbers. A 33-year-old male clerk, whom police did not identify but Durham and other visitors believed was No's brother, also was shot. He remained hospitalized yesterday with life-threatening injuries, said Cpl. Diane Richardson, a Prince George's County police spokeswoman.

Police are looking for two men believed to be involved in the slaying. One may have facial injuries suffered during a fight.

"We're hoping that could be a break in the case," Richardson said. "If someone comes into contact with someone who has unexplained facial injuries and may have a connection to the area, we definitely want to hear from them."

Yesterday, as a light snow fell, Durham, 46, placed two bouquets of roses at the store's back door.

"It's so sad," she said, her words muffled by sobs. "They were just so sweet."

A stream of customers stopped yesterday at the store, a cream-colored building that also houses a delicatessen and a dry cleaner. Located at Old Fort and Allentown roads, a southern Prince George's residential neighborhood of single-family homes, the building resembles a country store.

Yellow police tape cordoned off the building and its parking lot, and the stores were closed. Even so, by mid-afternoon, a small pile of flowers lay before the liquor store's front door. Inside were signs of a skirmish. Broken wine bottles lay on the linoleum floor, surrounded by splotches of dried red wine. Candy, small liquor bottles and magazines were scattered on the counter and the floor in front of it. A bullet had pierced a window.

About 3:30 p.m. Saturday, two masked men entered the store, drew guns and demanded cash in plain view of several customers, police said. After a struggle, the assailants shot the clerks, stole cash and fled.

Visitors said the brothers worked with another brother and their parents, who have run the store and the adjacent deli for about five years. The family's white dog was always around, too. Family members could not be reached yesterday.

Although nearby stores on Old Fort Road have been robbed before, visitors said, they did not believe that Fort Washington Liquors had been before.

"But nobody's ever been killed," said a woman who stopped by to drop off flowers, her voice rising with rage. She said she and relatives came every day to the store for cigarettes and unsalted chips, a hard-to-find item that the brothers usually had in stock. "But 3:30 in the day? Come on. I could have been up here with my daughter!"

She would identify herself only as Charlayne, saying she feared retaliation.

Durham said she went at least three times a week to the store, which she said had provided her with many lucky lottery tickets. Recently, the brothers had been leaving the store's back door unlocked, drawing more traffic to an already busy shop. And in the past week, she said, a group of men had been hanging out in the store longer than usual, raising her suspicions.

But that did not stop her visits. She said she had rarely encountered such friendly store clerks. She did not know their names, but they knew her name.

"They'd say, 'Hi, Sam,' or 'Hi, Bob,' to everybody," Durham said. "Just like family."

Staff writer Rosalind S. Helderman and staff researcher Rena Kirsch contributed to this report.