A gunman killed the co-owner of a Staten Island delicatessen on Saturday night in a brazen murder that brought tears to the victim’s friends, police and people who knew the man.
The shooting was discovered around 7:50 p.m. by someone who entered Manor Deli & Convenience on Manor Road near Goodwin Ave. in Castleton Corners, police said.
The person who found the victim called 911 and reported a possible robbery, cops said.
The 35-year-old victim was shot in the chest, police said. Doctors rushed him to Staten Island University Hospital, but he could not be saved.
It was not immediately clear when the man was shot, cops said. His identity was not released on Saturday evening.
It was not known if anything had been stolen from the store.
Friends said the shooting victim closed another grocery store in Richmond Terrace and opened the new location on Manor Road.
“He came here because it was a nice neighborhood,” said friend Alex Omer.
The victim leaves behind a wife and two children, said Hazem Alasad, a second friend of the victim who sat crying on a sidewalk opposite the store on Saturday night.
“Very, very, very hard worker. He worked very hard to support his family. All the way,” Alasad said. “He was very nice and very pleasant. Everyone loved him.
Police searched for a suspect or suspects in the murder on Saturday.