ISLE OF WIGHT, Va. - The Isle of Wight County Sheriff's Office updated the public on the murder of Rakim Breeden, who was shot and killed at the Safco Distribution Center near Windsor on Route 460 in September 2021. It was Breeden's first day on the job.
"That morning he went to work, I was prepared that afternoon to ask him, 'How was your day?' Then, I got a phone call from his friend that he had been shot down by a young man, Preston Kyle Thomas, over a cellphone," said Mary Breeden, Rakim's mother.
Rakim was a college graduate returning home to Virginia from North Carolina to take care of his mother, who was battling stage 4 breast cancer.
"This was a senseless tragedy. A cellphone was on a ledge; it fell to the floor, cost an outstanding man his life," said Captain Tommy Potter with the Isle of Wight County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities say the suspect in that shooting, 23-year-old Preston Thomas, is a fugitive who has been on the run since the incident. They added that they have reason to believe that he is still in and out of the local area.
After the workplace shooting, authorities say the suspect barricaded himself in a residence at the Eagle Harbor Apartments in Carollton, Thomas' last known address.
Thomas was a temp worker at Safco. Deputies tried several times to make contact with him, and the sheriff's office called for help from the Virginia State Police Special Response Team to execute a search warrant at the apartment, but he wasn't there.
Thomas is still not in custody and is considered to be armed and dangerous.
There is now a $5,000 reward for information on Thomas' whereabouts that leads to an arrest.
At Tuesday's press conference, Breeden's family pleaded with the public to please call and give police any information they may have.
Listen to Rakim’s mother tell the press and public about the day her son died. @WTKR3 pic.twitter.com/shWXh0TJ5m
— Chelsea Donovan (@ChelseaDReports) February 9, 2022
If you have any information that could help police, call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887).
