Beloved Waiter Killed Outside Home

Rarely does one waiter cast his personality across an entire restaurant, but at a burger joint in a mall in Gaithersburg, Longyuan "Mooney" Wang did just that, co-workers said. Customers were known to wait for his tables, even when others were open.

"He taught everybody here not to be afraid of who they were," said Victoria McConnell, a Red Robin restaurant manager, speaking of Wang's larger-than-life personality. "Eccentric was an understatement."

McConnell and others struggled yesterday to come to terms with the report from Montgomery County police: Wang was stabbed late Thursday night in an attempted robbery. Detectives were searching for two suspects.

"He was friends with everyone," McConnell said. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."

Wang, 24, worked in the Lakeforest Mall Red Robin. About 11 p.m. Thursday, he was stabbed as he walked to his townhouse in the 1800 block of Royal Bonnet Circle in Montgomery Village.

Police were summoned to the unit block of Fifeshire Court after a resident called to report hearing noises outside, police said. Officers swarmed the area with 20 patrol cars, at least one police dog, and a helicopter shining down a spotlight, said Elizabeth Phillips, who arrived home at the time.

Police said in a news release that a knife had been found in the neighborhood but that investigators had not determined whether it was the knife used in the slaying.

Police described one of the suspects as either an Asian or Hispanic man, in his 20s, with an average build and very short dark hair. He was wearing a white, fitted, long tank-style T-shirt and faded, loose-fitting jeans, police said. The second suspect was described only as having shoulder-length dark hair, a small-to-average build and wearing dark clothing.

Yesterday morning, before work, word spread among Red Robin employees. Employees from other Red Robin restaurants, including McConnell, arrived later to help and give emotional support.

Every day, said bartender Kim Loudermilk, Wang would come behind the bar to say hello, and check his hair in the mirror. She stopped working about 20 minutes into her shift, joining other workers in a booth where they shared memories of Wang.

"Everything I saw reminded me of him," she said in an interview, speaking of her station behind the bar.

Dan Mori, who spends time at Red Robin because his girlfriend works there, said most every time he gave Wang a ride home -- less than a mile -- Wang would insist on giving him at least $2. When Mori wouldn't take it, Wang would stuff the bills under a cassette tape or hide them somewhere else in the car for Mori to find later.

When customers asked for Wang yesterday, managers found themselves having to break the news. One customer, who had heard the news earlier, arrived in tears.

Co-workers said yesterday that one family of regulars got to know Wang so well that they made him a godfather to one of their children, and they invited him to their home for the holidays.

"He was 24," McConnell said, "and he had a lot more living."

Montgomery detectives asked that anyone with information about the slaying call 240-773-5070. Callers are permitted to remain anonymous.