BETHESDA, MARYLAND | Not the kind of wakeup call you want, but when you live the life of a gypsy, it’s not completely unexpected, either.
At about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday before the opening round of the recent KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Will St. Onge, caddie for Jennifer Chang (who would have one of her best weeks as a tour player), was lying in bed in a room at the Red Roof Inn in Rockville, Maryland, when he heard, a “pop, pop, pop” outside. As happens often on the LPGA, the room was full of people. Caddies bring air mattresses and split expenses. Each week is like a college road trip.
“Guys, I think that was gunfire,” St. Onge said to the others in the room.
Because it was late and he hadn’t thought the matter through, St. Onge went outside to investigate. When he heard another “pop, pop,” he scurried back inside and locked the door.
It turned out to be exactly what he thought. According to local reports, when Montgomery County and Rockville city police officers arrived at the scene, they found 39-year-old Javier Gonzalez-Mena fatally shot outside his room on the first floor. The caddies who were there referred to it as a “domestic disturbance,” although nothing in the official reports indicated a motive.
Because the shooters remained on the loose for a time, officers had to evacuate the place. So, seven hours before the first shots of the opening round, a group of caddies had to come out of their hotel rooms with their hands up while police searched the premises.
Later, two men, Micah Clemons, 32, of Virginia and Sergey Danshin, 34, of Rockville, were taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder. Meanwhile, as word spread of the “murder hotel,” several members at tournament host Congressional Country Club stepped up, offering to put caddies into their homes.
One caddie, the ringleader who recommended the Red Roof Inn in the first place, chose to stay. “It’s the safest place in Maryland now,” said Dean Herden, the caddie for KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner In Gee Chun. Herden and Chun visited Congressional in May and the caddie found the deal – $550 a week – at the hotel. After the shooting, Herden said, “Every time I came out, there was a police car right there.”
Yeah. A shooting death will do that.
Steve Eubanks
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