The store where Claudine Parker was shot dead

This is the ABC Select Spirits store where Claudine Parker was shot dead.

It is situated at 2690 Zelda Road in Montgomery, Alabama.

At around 7.15 p.m. on September 21st, 2002, the 52-year-old liquor store clerk was shot in the back during a robbery.

Parker's coworker, Kellie Adams, was also seriously wounded. However, she managed to survive the attack.

Although no one knew it at the time, this was one of the "preliminary" shootings by "the D.C. snipers," John Allen Muhammad (41) and Lee Boyd Malvo (17).

That evening, Parker and Adams were locking up the store when they were targeted with a high-powered rifle.

Parker was struck in the back and died almost instantly. According to the medical examiner, the bullet broke through her spinal cord and fragmented inside her body.

Adams was hit in the back of the lower head, leaving her with extensive injuries that required dozens of surgeries. She also suffered from PTSD and had to be fitted with a tracheostomy tube to help her breathe.

Afterwards, Adams explained that she never heard the bullet that hit her. Nor did she see the gunmen. As she lay there, dazed and confused, she started to believe that she had been struck by lightning.

Following the shooting, Lee Boyd Malvo ran up to the two women and began emptying their purses.

As he was standing over their bodies, a patrol car pulled up outside the liquor store, causing him to flee. At that point, one of the officers chased Malvo on foot while the other stayed behind to help the victims.

During the chase, a slow-moving blue sedan drove in front of the officer, obstructed his path, and then pulled away.

This incident slowed the officer down and gave Malvo enough time to escape.

Later, it emerged that Malvo's accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, was the driver of the car.

Photos

Photos of the store and other related images.

ABC Select Spirits

This Google Street View image of ABC Select Spirits was taken in February of 2022—nearly twenty years after Claudine Parker was murdered.

Previously, the store was called ABC Beverages.

Initially, the authorities believed that the shooting was just another store robbery. However, that changed after the D.C. sniper attacks began.

On October 20th, 2002, a federal agent contacted Montgomery Police Chief, John Wilson, and told him that a caller had advised the investigation team to take a closer look at the shooting on Zelda Road.

Not long after, the evidence from the liquor store was tied to the attacks in Washington, D.C.

Aerial image

This aerial image highlights the liquor store, drainage ditch, and interstate. Malvo (17) and Muhammad (41) are pictured top-left.

According to the officer who chased Malvo, they ran through the drainage ditch and then back towards the interstate. At that point, it seems as though Muhammad drove his vehicle between the two men and then sped away.

After losing sight of the shooter, the officer decided to return to the liquor store to help his partner.

Vigil

One week after Claudine Parker's death, 100 people held a vigil outside the store.

Suspect

The article above appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper on September 25th, 2002.

At the time, the authorities believed that it was an attempted robbery gone wrong.