Briton Thomas Reeve, who was shot dead in a bar in Texas
A British father on a road-trip through the United States was shot dead after stopping in Amarillo because he loved the cult song, relatives revealed.
Tom Reeve, who was gunned down while visiting a bar in the Texan city, was "just in the wrong place, at the wrong time", his mother and step-father said.
The 28-year-old and his two friends were only making a brief stop in Amarillo - made famous in the UK by the Tony Christie chart hit, (Is This The Way To) Amarillo - during a trip from San Francisco to Florida.
In a statement issued from his detached family home in Maidenhead, Berkshire, his mother, Margaret, and step-father, Brian Millin, said: "Tom was a much loved son, brother and father who will be missed by the whole family and very many friends."
Mr Reeve, who had a nine-month-old daughter, died of a wound to the torso after the masked attacker walked into the Spotted Pony bar on Thursday night (US time).
US police said Mr Reeve, who had rented a car in California, had arrived in Amarillo just hours before the shooting.
His parents said "the whole family was in shock" as they told how Mr Reeve, who had lived all his life in Maidenhead and had played schoolboy football, was always "happy and optimistic".
They added: "Although he worked for many years in the licensed trade he was, in fact, teetotal.He was on a holiday with two of his friends, driving from San Francisco to Florida and had chosen Amarillo as a stopping place because he liked the song. He was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
"He loved life, was always happy and optimistic about the future. He was generous, kind and always saw the best in every one he met. He adored his nine-month-old daughter, Tabitha, and was a devoted father."
Sergeant Kevin Dockery, of Amarillo special crimes unit, said a suspect - according to US reports, Ray Carlos Cisneros, 25, - had been charged with capital murder.
Obviously, you hide your head in the sand regarding UK GUN CRIME! And guns aren't legal here!!! I remember a multitude of times when my father-in-law in London (England!!!!) called to tell me of the latest gun incidents-including 2 separate gun battles outside his local cafe, numerous muggings, armed break-ins, drug shootings and hostage situations between 2002-2007. All in England where GUNS ARE BANNED. Hello! Are you naive?! Guns are everywhere. Just in the UK, only the criminals have guns! Read the news or listen to it and count gun incidents. Open your eyes and mind.
This poor man was a victim of crime. It could have happened anywhere in the world. I sympathise with his family and friends. May they have comfort in their sadness.
To be fair you can only compare London to New York etc
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I imagine that Amarillo can be compared to any smaller town/city in Britain where it is unlikely that guns would be used.
However I have to admit that in recent time, despite the firearms legislation, that guns are becoming more prevalent.
Not having been to the USA I guess that there are lots of places where guns are rarely seen/used.
its so sad a young man died like this my heart goes out to his family so sorry hilda danson
Whitewolf
Getting more guns in the hands of non-criminal citizens will never solve gun crime. Unfortunately, the few times that an innocent citizen has successfully defended themselves against gun threat is held up as proof that arming the innocent deters gun banditry. Only removing and banning gun ownership from the general citizenry will remove triggers from fingers. Those who insist on still criming with arms despite proposed widespread publicity to not do so should enter long term detention or pay the ultimate penalty in order to keep other citizens living untroubled and peaceful lives with their families, friends and neighbours rather than being shot dead whilst innocently visiting a bar during a holiday.
I live in the next town from Thomas and I can tell you that gun crime in Maidenhead is non-existent. I love visiting America, but sadly, any Britons going there need to realise that many Americans are blinkered to their gun crime problem. I offer my sincere condolences to the Reeve family for the needless waste of life of the wonderful Thomas . Partly, this is due to the ineptitude and wrong thinking of those with the power to make more change in America to reduce the culling of their own citizens and visitors by the dregs of their society empowered to take life simply by investing in a $50 gun.
A terrible tragedy. Peace to those affected by this awful crime. General reply to 'H Silver' - what planet are you on? Where in the UK do people just walk into bars/cafes/restaurants and start shooting people? It simply does not happen except in freak isolated once-in-a-decade cases, as opposed to the all too frequent episodes in the USA. Yes, gun crime exists here in the UK, but in VERY isolated pockets relating mostly to drugs/gang crime or highly planned armed robbery. By comparison firearm crime is rife in the USA and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous. Gun crime is common in the USA because of a combination of two inter-relating factors: 1) the ease with which firearms can be obtained, and 2) the massive discrepancy between the richest and poorest members of society. Two other countries in the world have a higher per capita gun ownership rate than the US, namely Switzerland and Finland; people rarely commit random shootings in those two countries because they have the common sense to spread the wealth and take care of those lower down on the social/financial ladder. When will the USA wake up to the fact that in-yer-face capitalism (ie greed) will always encourage a small minority to try and grab through violence what those with a higher IQ have managed to grab in semi-legitimate ways?
Lecture done and dusted!