NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Police in the Newark area were searching Wednesday for a suspect who shot and killed a beloved animal control officer.

As CBS2’s Christine Sloan reported, law enforcement sources said they do not believe the murderer on the run was a stranger.

Alvis Carrington, 43, died in the arms of his brother, Larry, after being shot along a residential street.

“I tried to save him, you know – that’s what any brother would do,” Larry Carrington said. “And I couldn’t bring him back.”

Alvis Carrington was a well-respected animal control officer in Newark. He was on duty Tuesday night, stopping by his house on Wainwright Street to bring his wife a soda, when he was killed on the sidewalk.

His wife and brother were there to see it all.

Surveillance video showed police squad cars speeding to the scene after the suspect fled.

“He walked up to him and put it to his head, because he had powder burns from the bullet holes in his head,” Larry Carrington said.

The victim’s brother said he did not get a good look at the suspect.

“I just heard the shot, and by the time I came to the curb, he was laying on the curb,” Larry Carrington said. “He had a black hoody on, and no one seen where he came from. He may have came from behind that abandoned house right there. He might have just been waiting for him.”

While Larry Carrington believes his brother may have been targeted on his overnight shift because of his job investigating animal abuse. Prosecutors said they do not have a motive, but said they shooting was not random.

“I’m just really numb right now,” Larry Carrington said.

Fellow officers at the Humane Society of New Jersey said Carrington was the best – rescuing thousands of dogs, most of them injured in dog fights.

“He kind of was like the standard down here,” said John Distano of the Humane Society of New Jersey. “He was here the longest. He trained the other guys.”

Carrington’s brother said the suspect ran past surveillance cameras. Sources said investigators are looking at video from those cameras to see if they have a clear shot of the suspect.

The new Newark police director said while robberies and shootings are down, homicides are up by 18 percent