An 88-year-old wounded veteran of World War II died Thursday after he was brutally beaten, apparently at random, in the parking lot of his lodge in Spokane, Wash., authorities said.
Spokane police said they were seeking two suspects in the attack Wednesday night on Delbert "Shorty" Belton, a retired aluminum company worker who'd lived in the city for most of his life after he was discharged from the Army after the war. Belton died of his injuries Thursday morning, police said.
The suspects were described as black males of average build, 16 to 19 years old, wearing black clothing and red sneakers. Police Lt. Mark Griffiths said they apparently attacked Belton at random.
"It appears he was assaulted in the parking lot, and there was no indication that he would have known these people prior to the assault," Griffiths said at a news conference
As police released surveillance camera photos of two young men believed to be the suspects, a makeshift memorial overflowing with flowers, U.S. flags and messages of sympathy sprouted Thursday outside the Eagles Lodge in North Spokane.
Friends and family remembered Belton as a warm, generous man who helped many people over the years.
Belton was waiting for a friend at the lodge because he didn't want her to walk in alone, Lillian Duncan, a longtime friend, told the Spokesman-Review of Spokane.
"He was so awesome," Duncan told the newspaper. "Anybody that didn't get to know him missed out on a wonderful angel in their life."
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