CrossFit members remember beloved trainer - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

CrossFit members remember beloved trainer

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The CrossFit community is still mourning the loss of a trainer who was shot and killed Monday morning.  Police say someone shot 57-year-old Joe Lengel shortly before six in the morning, possibly in an attempted robbery.  Police have surveillance video from surrounding businesses, but are not releasing it.  Lengel was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Members at CrossFit Toledo, Lengel's gym, called him an inspiration.  They say he encouraged them to push their limits and always maintained a positive attitude and a smile.

"While everyone was laying on the floor at the end of a workout, he was always going around high fifing everyone and telling everybody how great they did," says Adam Motycka, another gym member. "That was Joe to a tee right there."

"This was his passion, his love. This is everything that he ever really wanted to be involved in," says Jen Babcock, who'd been studying under Langel for over a year.  "You could see that in the way he did his own workouts and the way he helped us with ours."

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Toledo CrimeStopper at 419-255-1111.

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