Black suspects sought in murder of Hispanic

Deborah Gates:

City police and Crime Solvers staged a joint news conference Monday at the scene of last week's fatal shooting of a man of Mexican heritage, pledging up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest of his masked killers.

Raul Olan Jiminez was the city's sixth homicide victim this year and, in memory, the first Hispanic -- a factor that could challenge the police investigation because oftentimes members of the ethnic group are in the country illegally and reluctant to come forward, according to police.

"There are a number of witnesses; we've had a difficult time reaching them," said Salisbury Police Department Capt. Mark Tyler. "We're going house to house, trying to get everything we can."

Jiminez, whose last name also is listed on an identification card as Lopez, was gunned down Nov. 14 near the corner of Smith Street and Maryland Avenue during an apparent robbery involving three men described by witnesses as African-American and masked.

Authorities know little more about the 9:30 p.m. shooting in the bedroom community of Salisbury University that mixes college students and a growing multiethnic population, noticeably blacks and Hispanics.

"We have suspects but no names: Three African-Americans," Tyler said. "People heard a gunshot. (The victim) has family in this area."

Crimesolvers Offers $1,000 For Info In Salisbury Murder