On February 9, 1996, Donald Leroy Moon Jr.—a 44-year-old white male—was one of five City of Fort Lauderdale beach-maintenance employees shot and killed inside a small municipal trailer near the beach just before dawn. Contemporary reports identify the victims as Donald Leroy Moon Jr. Joseph Timothy Clifford Joseph Belotto Kenneth A. Brunjes and Mark Bretz. A sixth employee, Lelan “Joe” Brookins, was gravely wounded but initially survived.
The shooting occurred as workers gathered around a conference table shortly before 5:00 a.m. to receive their daily assignments.
Police identified the gunman as Clifton McCree, 41, a former beach-maintenance worker who had been fired by the city in December 1994 after failing a drug test and for threatening or being rude to co-workers and the public. According to investigators, McCree entered the trailer, declared that “everybody was going to die,” and opened fire. Officers recovered a 9mm Glock pistol and magazines at the scene. After shooting the employees multiple times, McCree turned the gun on himself and died at the scene. All of the victims—each a male city employee, including the 44-year-old white male victim, Donald Leroy Moon Jr.—were white; McCree was Black.
Authorities later released details of a suicide note in which McCree referenced anger over his firing and alluded to perceived racism, writing that he wanted to “punish” those he blamed. Coverage at the time emphasized that McCree had recently tried and failed to regain his old job and had a history of making threats prior to his 1994 termination. These details, together with witness accounts from surviving employees, formed the core of police understanding of motive.
Funeral services for the victims, including the 44-year-old white male victim, Donald Leroy Moon Jr., were held in the days following the attack; Brookins, the surviving coworker, was initially hospitalized in serious condition and later succumbed to complications years afterward. Memorial records place Donald Leroy “Don” Moon Jr. at Lauderdale Memorial Park in Fort Lauderdale.
No arrests were made in the case. The sole suspect was the shooter, Clifton McCree, who died by suicide at the scene, ending the criminal investigation without prosecution. In other words, while the incident was investigated as a mass workplace murder, there were no surviving suspects to charge in the killing of the 44-year-old white male victim, Donald Leroy Moon Jr.
