20-Year-Old Man Shot Dead Outside Bodega In Crown Heights, Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A young man was shot and killed outside a bodega in Crown Heights, Brooklyn early Saturday morning.
Police said they responded to reports of a male shot in front of 790 Franklin Avenue just before 4:30 a.m. When they arrived, they discovered a 20-year-old man shot multiple times in the torso.
Medics rushed the victim to NYC Health+Hospitals/Kings County where he was pronounced dead.
As CBS2's Erin Logan reported, the young man was buying ginger ale inside Franklin Finest Deli when he lost his life.
Co-owner Ghamdan Obayah witnessed the whole thing.
"This is the first time I've seen this one happen," he told Logan.
Obayah said he thought the victim was simply having a conversation with a man outside while trying to leave the store. But then, the first shot rang out, and the victim ran back inside the store.
An employee came running too after a bullet nearly missed him.
"The glass got his head and some of them his arm," the owner said.
Obayah ducked behind the counter and called 911 as more shots were fired.
"The next four bullets were from the window," he said.
The sixth and final shot was fired while the victim was standing inside the store.
Obayah said once he made his way back behind the counter, his feelings of fear turned to devastation.
"I know him," he told Logan.
Obayah said he knew the young man wasn't going to make it. To make matters worse, a number of his friends ran in and saw him lying there.
The owner said the young man was always polite when he came into the store. He can't imagine someone wanting to take his life.
The victim's name is being withheld pending family notification.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74682). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
