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The shooting death of an internationally known FloridaState law professor has many asking “why?” As Matt Galka explains, police are still looking for that same answer.

Renowned law professor Dan Markel was gunned down in his home Friday.  Attorney and neighbor Reggie Garcia says the world lost a great man.

“He was just a fun laid back guy, I mean not a lot of my professors brought me baked goods from their favorite deli in New York. You’ll certainly hear this directly from the students but they loved him,” said Garcia.

Markel was apparently shot in broad daylight around 11 a.m. Friday morning. The Toronto native and Harvard graduate later died from his injuries.  Police are saying this wasn’t a random act of violence.

“We believe he was the intended victim in this case. Targeted is a hard word for us, again, we have to make sure that we leave all of our avenues open, but we are doing everything we can to bring this case to a close for the Markel family and for Mr. Markel himself,” said Tallahassee Police Department spokesman Dave Northway.

Looking for any piece of information that could be helpful, police started canvassing the neighborhood around Markel’s house. Police went door to door asking neighbors about any information they had. Jill Harper summed up the mood of the community.

“Fear, there have been some car break ins and home break ins,” said Harper, a neighbor that lives down the street.

Markel was a father to two young sons and was going through a divorce at the same time he was murdered.  Police wouldn’t say if his estranged wife, also a distinguished academic, had been questioned.

“I cannot give the details of who we’re interviewing,” said Northway.

Markel joined FSU in 2005. He primarily taught criminal law to hundreds of students from around the state. Markel had been a prominent law writer and blogger around the state and the country. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, and Slate.