A deli worker was shot and killed Saturday night after a dispute with another man, the New York City Police Dept. said. Law enforcement sources tell NBC New York that the suspect was also wounded and is recovering in a hospital, but no arrests have been made.
Sal’s Deli & Grocery on on Ave. B and East 13th St. in the East Village was closed Sunday. The gates were shut and an impromptu memorial was set up in honor of the victim, Abdul Saleh, 28. Detectives continue to investigate what happened as mourners paid tribute.
“If he had to give his shirt off his back to some person, he would do that,” one woman told NBC New York through tears Sunday.
“It was always a smile and if you didn’t have money, (he’d say) ‘don’t worry about it, come back later,” another mourner added. Investigators say the store where he worked and died is one of two his family owns on the block.
“They fed me when I didn’t have any money, ” said neighbor Ciara Lugo. “This is a beautiful family and it’s heartbreaking what they had to go through.”
Photos of deli worker and shooting victim Abdul Saleh were placed at a makeshift memorial Sunday. (Image: NBC New York)
Neighbors say Saleh just came back from a vacation to Yemen and was back at work Saturday. But Saturday night, around 11:30, “what I heard was a pop, pop, pop. What I saw was my friend dying on the corner,” said neighbor and friend Rex Hughes.
The NYPD says the shooting happened after some kind of argument that started inside the deli spilled outside across the street. A law enforcement source tells News 4 that the suspect took out a gun. There was a struggle between the two of them, and the gun went off.
“There’s my friend’s brother, you know, praying and telling him he’s going to be okay, and I’m telling him he’s going to be okay, because there was a small bullet wound in the stomach,” Hughes said. “But it obviously did a lot more damage than we realized.”
Detectives were going door to door Sunday looking for more evidence. Some neighbors say there was someone who gave some of the workers trouble in the past.
“I do know that prior to Abdul leaving to Yemen… I guess, certain problems with this individual,” said Lugo.
“We need, as a community, we need to come together regarding the situation,” added neighbor Jack Lugo, who said he walked his dog down to the deli Saturday night to visit Saleh. “so he FaceTimed his daughter and showed her my dog,” he said. That was about an hour before the shooting.
“Maybe I could have interjected in some way, or whatever, I don’t know. You know, so that’s going to stay with me for a while,” he added.
The United Bodegas of America is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. Another neighbor told News 4 that “everyone deserves an Abdul.”
