Body shop murderers still on the loose

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Police are searching for two men who they say shot a 32-year-old man at a Providence auto body shop on Tuesday afternoon.

Ruben Lopez, 32, was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital soon after the shooting Tuesday afternoon at Rhode Island Automotive on Delaine Street.

According to investigators, the gunmen walked past employees and into an office, targeting Lopez.

"We heard what sounded like a gunshot, and being that there's never been anything like that around here, we actually thought it was a backfire or something," said Wendy Barricelli, who works next door to the body shop.

Neighbors say they are still on edge.

"Scary, very scary. I'm paranoid. I was literally shaking when I got home," said Otilia Jara

The gunmen took off after the shooting. They're described as Hispanic males in their late 20s or early 30s. They were last seen driving a gray Grand Am or Grand Prix with tinted windows towards downtown Providence.

Lopez was in the process of buying the body shop, according to investigators.

He has a lengthy criminal history, police said, including several drug charges. He was arrested in 1999 for murder, but that charge was later dropped.

This is Providence's sixth murder this year.