The family of Malcom Winffel, who died Friday at Suburban Hospital after being shot in a Westfield Montgomery mall parking lot, says the Boyds man was killed trying to help another shooting victim.
The family set up a GoFundMe page Saturday to raise money to pay for funeral expenses.
Police said Eulalio Tordil shot Winffel and two others just before 11:15 a.m. in a parking lot near the Macy’s entrance of Westfield Montgomery mall. Police said 40 minutes after the Westfield Montgomery shootings, Tordil shot and killed 65-year-old Claudina Molina of Silver Spring in her car in an Aspen Hill shopping center parking lot.
Police said Tordil’s shooting spree began Thursday, when he allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife in the parking lot of a Prince George’s County high school.
According a Saturday night update from police, one of the other men shot in the mall parking lot listed in critical condition was improving, while the woman who was shot suffered non-life threatening injuries. Police said Friday they won’t release the identities of the two victims who remain alive, since they are witnesses to the incident.
Police said Saturday night they hadn't found any connections between Tordil and the victims and believe he was trying to steal the female victim's vehicle. County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill said detectives think Winffel and the other man were trying to help her.
“In an instant, after the female victim cried out for help, these two men acted selflessly and heroically, not only coming to her aid, but likely saving her life,” Hamill said.
On the GoFundMe page, Winffel’s family said the shooting at the mall was “a random act of violence.” Winffel had a wife and two children.
“A stranger approached a woman and open fired upon her. Malcom lost his life saving her life,” reads the GoFundMe page. “Anyone who knew him, knows that he was always trying to help. He was an active member of his church and very involved in his children’s lives. Malcom was always laughing and joking and could find the positive in everything. He made everyone around him laugh. He will be missed more than words could ever say.”
Police on Saturday said they transported the 62-year-old Tordil from the department’s Gaithersburg headquarters to the Central Processing Unit.
Tordil was on administrative leave from his job as a federal police officer after his wife alleged he had abused one of their children
He was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of the use of a handgun in the commission of a felon for the Montgomery County incidents. He’s scheduled for an arraignment Monday afternoon.
Montgomery County police arrested Tordil without incident Friday afternoon after spotting his car in the parking lot of a shopping center across the street from the scene of the Aspen Hill shooting.
