The NYPD released surveillance footage Monday of two suspects in ski masks wanted for shooting a Staten Island deli owner to death during a botched hold up.
The crooks burst into Manor Deli & Convenience on Manor Road near Goodwin Ave. in Castleton Corners about 7:50 p.m. Saturday, cops said. While trying to rob the store they shot 35-year-old co-owner Bassam Khateeb in the chest.
Medics rushed Khateeb to Staten Island University Hospital but he could not be saved. The crooks fled empty-handed.
The surveillance video shows the crooks, wearing black ski masks, first targeting a smoke shop on Richmond Ave. near Amsterdam Place. They pull on the locked door but are unable to gain entry.
They quickly moved on to Manor Deli about four miles away.
After botching the hold up and killing Khateeb, the panicked duo sprinted back to their maroon Jeep Cherokee, the video shows. They were last seen zipping towards New Jersey on the Staten Island Expressway, cops said.
Friends said Khateeb, who lived two miles away from the store, had previously owned another deli in Richmond Terrace but closed it to be in a better neighborhood.
“He came here because it was a nice area,” said one friend, Alex Omer.
The victim was married and had two children, said another friend, Hazem Alasad, who crying on a curb across the street from the store on Saturday night.
“Very, very, very hard worker,” Alasaid said. “He worked very hard to support his family.
“He was very nice and very pleasant. Everybody liked him.”
Cops are asking the public’s help identifying and tracking down the suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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