Dozens of family members and friends came together on the Keansburg boardwalk this past Sunday to remember 28-year-old Paco Moore, a young father whose life was cut short earlier in the week in a shooting that has left his community shaken.
More than 100 people showed up for the tribute, releasing red and green balloons into the sky in his memory. For many who knew him, Moore was more than a friend — he was someone who stepped in as a father figure for others even while raising his own family.
“Growing up without a father, he was our father. He taught me everything I know,” his brother Khalil shared with visible emotion.
Moore was shot Monday night on Carr Avenue in Keansburg. He is survived by a young child and a partner who is expecting the couple’s second baby next month — a boy the family says will be named after him.
According to relatives, Moore was spending time at a nearby park with his partner and child when he noticed a car pulling up near a laundromat across the street. Sensing something was wrong, he reportedly handed his child to his partner and rushed toward the scene, urging her to get to safety moments before gunfire broke out.
Those living nearby said shots were fired in several directions, with one bullet reportedly coming dangerously close to a woman inside a nearby home.
Family members describe Moore as someone who never hesitated to step in when others were in trouble, even strangers, and say there was no place for this kind of violence in a small beachside community they consider a family-friendly space.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau, along with the Keansburg Police Department, has opened a homicide investigation and is continuing to look into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.