A New York bodega worker, who had previously expressed fear over his safety at the location, was killed just outside his store on Saturday night.
Abdul Saleh was reportedly killed while he was on the job in the East Village of Manhattan.
According to ABC7, the shooting happened just after 11:30 p.m. in front of Saleh’s family-owned business, Sal’s Deli & Grocery.
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Police told reporters that Saleh got into an argument that started inside the deli.
“Witnesses say the video shows Saleh and the 28-year-old man arguing. It then spilled outside, where Abdul was shot in the stomach,” the outlet reported.
A year ago, Saleh spoke with Eyewitness News reporter Kemberly Richardson about his concerns over crime in the area, expressing worry about violence against bodega workers he saw on social media.
Richardson met Saleh last May as the city was looking to add more panic buttons in bodegas. The effort stemmed from the United Bodega Association business group spending over $1.5 million on a program to install panic buttons at 500 city stores, according to ABC7.
Saleh’s comments came as the United Bodega Association business group announced a $1.6 million program to install panic buttons at 500 city stores. The buttons would bypass the conventional 911 dispatch system to connect bodega and deli workers to the NYPD’s central command center in order for police to address incidents more quickly.
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“People got shot, killed, sometimes you got robbed, and police never respond quick — they always come three, four hours late,” Saleh told Richardson last year.
“Always something happens, and no one really cares,” he said at another point.
The alleged shooter is reportedly in the hospital suffering from non-fatal injuries after one of his bullets ricocheted and struck him.
According to a local CBS report’s sources, the suspect had refused to pay for a meal and then had an argument with Saleh. Saleh reportedly had just returned from Yemen to visit his family there before his death.
United Bodegas of America questioned whether the person who shot Saleh was someone who should not have been on the street.
“When you get away with something over and over again, you’re going to commit a bigger crime every time. And we need to punish these people. We can’t allow them to get away with it,” spokesman Fernando Mateo said.
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The New York Police Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
