Aaron Bell mourns his son Cody, killed at work trying to deescalate a confrontation with an angry customer who brought a gun into the store.
SAN ANTONIO — For Aaron Bell, it seems the grief comes in overwhelming waves and he said he is relying on faith to sustain him during the storm.
“God blessed me with the perfect son and now the devil’s taking him away from me early, so I continue to count on my faith and my relationship with Jesus, to keep walking and be a positive force on this planet and to show all glory to God,” said Bell.
The man, whose son was shot multiple times at his workplace Tuesday afternoon, is struggling to make sense of the senselessness.
“He was the rock for all of his friends. When they had issues, they came to Cody,” Bell said. “When they were having children and weren’t quite sure how to deal with them, even though he hadn’t been a father yet, he was first to be there and hold their babies and give them a break.”
Bell said his son, 35-year-old Cody Bell, was a rap artist whose works appear online and he enjoyed performing.
“He was the life of the party,” he said of his son. Bell said his friends could always count on Cody for help.
“I’ve never met a more loyal man to his friends and family. People could call him at 4 in the morning. He’d pick up and leave if he needed to to go pick them up and bring them to our house so we could love on them and get them back to what they needed to do,” Bell said.
At work, Bell said Cody took his responsibilities as an assistant manager to heart and when an angry customer entered the store Tuesday afternoon, Cody tried to deescalate the situation.
San Antonio Police identified the assailant as 47-year-old Kenneth McKnight.
Bell said Cody’s coworkers told him the problem was not with McKnight’s phone but with the cell phone carrier and there was nothing that could be done.
Bell said other employees told him “The young man just wouldn’t listen and basically lifted up his shirt and showed my son the pistol and said ‘Somebody’s gonna fix my phone today.'”
When words didn’t calm McKnight, the confrontation escalated, according to witnesses.
“He had a motorcycle helmet in his backpack and he swung it and hit my son in the head with it,” Bell recounted, saying he was told “My son fell back against the wall. The young man came after my son. The other employees heard what was happening. Came around the corner.”
Bell said when the argument turned physical, everyone went to the ground.
“My son was the only one who knew the young man was armed at that time and as they hit the ground and were scuffling, that young man pulled out the gun and shot my son in the throat 3 times,” Bell said, while trying hard to maintain his composure.
Bell said another employee who witnessed the struggle ran to the back of the store and retrieved his own weapon and told McKnight to leave the store three times.
Employees told Bell, “He was walking around with the gun still cocked and everybody was still afraid for their lives.”
Bell said the co-worker did what he thought he had to do and shot and killed McKnight.
Even though the assailant was years older than his son, Bell sobbed as he said “Over a phone! Who raises their kids to be this way, where a phone is the most important thing in your life, not some other young man’s life or some other person’s life, but your phone!”
Bell claims safety issues are a constant concern in repair stores, an issue his son often addressed in social media posts. Bell said he believes the mostly young employees are vulnerable to attack.
“So I’ll be spending the rest of my life to protect these men and women who keep these electronics up and operating for everybody,” Bell said.
A message to the corporate office for UBreakIFix has not been returned as of this writing. An online post indicates the Bandera Road location may remain closed through the end of the week.
The Medical Examiner’s office said funeral arrangements for Bell are being handled by Porter Loring Mortuary.