Arlington County detectives netted about a dozen new leads this weekend that they hope will bring them closer to finding who shot and killed an Army veteran outside the Pentagon Row shopping center early Friday.
Former Spec. Paul Matthew Zeller, 24, was found lying on a sidewalk outside of the World Market store in the 1300 block of South Joyce Street early Friday morning. He suffered from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body. Police interviewed several eyewitnesses at the scene, but believe there may be several more, officials said.
Zeller’s sister, Lydia Robertson, said he was the “baby of the family” and tended to be quiet and it wasn’t in his character to be an “antagonist.” Robertson said her brother, who participated in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, often worked late at a College Park car dealership where he commuted by Metro.
Robertson said Zeller would cut through the Pentagon complex on his way home to grab some food, a pack of cigarettes or a Coke, but she did not know where he might have stopped that night.
Detectives set up information checkpoints late Friday and canvassed the area through the weekend and developed about a dozen “credible” leads, said police spokesman Matt Martin. Hundreds of flyers have been passed out around the upscale shopping center best known for the outdoor ice skating rink in the main plaza. Martin would not comment further on the details of the investigation orpossible motives.
Martin said video footage from the shopping center was pulled, but has yet to reap any major leads.
“There was no earth-shattering evidence,” Martin said. “If we had a photo or more information, believe me we would have sent it out to everyone.”
The Pentagon Row center, which abuts the Pentagon City Mall, has become a popular destination for tourists and locals in recent years and generally has tens of thousands of visitors on a daily basis, officials said. Zeller’s death was just the fourth homicide in Arlington County this year.
Anyone with information call the criminal investigation division at 703-228-4194 or the main police tip line at 703-228-4242.
