Father is murdered as he and his two sons unload bags at an airport-area motel

Bill McKelway:

From his home in the poultry-rich Shenandoah Valley town of Broadway, Gary Post Sr. could see North Mountain to the west and listen to the trickle of Linville Creek.

"He loved living in a quiet, rural place," said neighbor James Fye, who said Post moved to the area from Northern Virginia about 14 years ago.

But early Tuesday morning, accompanied by his two adult sons, Post's search for an inexpensive room and a few hours' sleep near Richmond International Airport ended in his death.

Henrico County police said the three were overtaken and held at gunpoint as they unloaded their bags at The Legacy Inn, a compound of single-story motel rooms off Williamsburg Road.

Police last night were looking for four black males, 19 to 25 years old, from 165 to 200 pounds and all just under 6 feet tall. A witness who saw the assailants leave the motel said they were driving a tan or silver late-model Pontiac. Each man carried a blue-steel, semi-automatic handgun.

Post, 54, was shot once in the chest after the assailants demanded money.

"All we can think is that he must have been unfamiliar with the area and was taken by surprise," said Broadway Mayor James Long, a lifelong resident of the town where Post and his family were known as trustworthy, community-involved residents.

"His kids did swim team with mine, and his daughter, Becky, dated my nephew for a number of years," Long said.

News of Post's death spread among Broadway's 3,500 people long before police bulletins were issued. Last night, friends and family gathered at the Posts' home on Shenandoah Avenue.

The assailants "didn't even get any money," said Henrico Police Lt. Doug Perry, who said Post and his sons, Gary Jr. and Jacob, were unarmed. "This was a totally senseless . . . "

His death was the county's second homicide of the year.

Post died at VCU Medical Center shortly after the 12:37 a.m. shooting.

Broadway Man Killed In Henrico