Two weeks ago, Victor Guzman witnessed a man shoot his son to death outside their Frankford home after an argument that began over a cigarette.
The killer has not been caught.
Early Saturday morning, someone threw a firebomb through Guzman’s front window. It did not ignite and no one was hurt.
Guzman, a 49-year-old city corrections officer, was shot in the forearm as he tried to shield his son, Edward Pagan, 25, from the gunman who fired at least three bullets into him May 20, including one in his back.
Police have issued a homicide warrant in the killing for Jalil Cooper, who is 20 and lives a few blocks away.
Around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, Guzman, and his wife and mother-in-law, were jolted awake to the sound of breaking glass and the smell of gasoline inside their home in the 1200 block of Adams Avenue.
A Molotov cocktail crashed through the front window.
Another smashed against a side window.
That one did not ignite either, police said.
Police found three more of the firebombs in a lot next to the house. The makeshift bombs were made in 40-ounce beer bottles, family members said.
Saturday afternoon, investigators would not say if the attempted firebombing was an act of intimidation, connected to Pagan’s killing.
“It’s too early right now,” said Officer Christine O’Brien, a department spokeswoman. “We are looking at every angle of this investigation.”
Homicide detectives, ATF agents and fire arson investigators are jointly investigating, police said.
A police cruiser remained outside the house Saturday afternoon.
Lorenzo North, President of Local 159, which represents corrections officers, called the firebombing “heinous and cowardly” and called on police to use “every means to catch these thugs.’
Guzman and his wife said they did not wish to comment.
“They are in a lot of pain right now,” said a family member, who did not wish to be identified.
Family and friends taped up the broken front window, and swept away the glass.
“This is ridiculous,” said Tito Pagan, Edward Pagan’s uncle. “We are living in the wild west, and no one cares.”
Pagan, a father of two, had been sitting on the stoop May 20, when Cooper walked up and demanded a cigarette, police and family members said.
Pagan refused, and an argument ensued.
The argument grew and included Cooper’s girlfriend, who lives on the block.
Guzman was walking his son back inside, when Cooper ran up from behind and opened fire, the family said.
