A new father from Ontario, Canada, was fatally shot Tuesday on a golf trip in the United States, just hours after he hit his first hole-in-one at the world-renowned Whistling Straits golf course, his family said.
Giovanni Michael Robinson, who went by Mike, was killed in a drive-by shooting during the trip in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, near Lake Michigan.
Robinson, who became a first-time father just six weeks ago, was walking in downtown Sheboygan Falls back to his hotel from a celebratory dinner and drinks after his first hole-in-one when he was shot, his brother, Jacob Robinson, told CTV News.
Robinson was on a golf trip with a group of people, his brother told CBC. It’s unclear if anyone was with him at the time of the shooting.
Officers arrived at the scene just after midnight and administered life-saving measures but Robinson, 32, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Sheboygan Falls Police Department stated.
Jacob Robinson said he spoke to his brother on the phone just hours before, when he called to let him know he got his first hole-in-one.
“That phone call is just playing in my head. It’s one of the last joyous phone calls that I’ll ever get to share with my best friend,” Jacob Robinson told CTV News. “I just told him how proud I was of him. He FaceTimed his baby, who’s only five weeks old, and shared that moment with her.”
No suspects have been caught and police are yet to identify a motive. Police said they believe the suspect’s vehicle is a “small, dark-colored SUV.”
Police asked members of the public to come forward with any information.
Robinson’s family said he was a “beautiful soul” and “true family man” with a passion for hockey, according to a GoFundMe page.
“Mike was a lot of things and held a lot of titles. Husband, Son, Brother, Nephew, Cousin, and friend,” family members wrote. “Mike’s most prized title yet … ‘FATHER’”.
Six weeks ago, Robinson and his wife, Rachel, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Farrah, the family said.
“He dove right into his new role of ‘Dad’ and was a natural, just like we all knew he would be. It is the most heartbreaking to know he will never be able to hold his baby girl again,” the family said.
His brother told CBC that his younger brother was “one-of-a-kind” and “an incredible, incredible person.”
“There’s literally no one like him. He was my younger brother, but I truly did look up to him,” Jacob Robinson said
According to a LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to Robinson, he was living in New Jersey and working for an indoor golf simulator company.
The incident has not only devastated Robinson’s family but the small town of Sheboygan Falls, which has a population of roughly 8,200.
“I was pretty shocked. I mean, this is a small little community and we’re all really close,” one resident, Jill Schuessler, told CTV News.
“This is not our community,” Facebook user Caitlin Brotz-McNitt wrote. “This is not how it is here. I am so saddened this happened.”
