Police said an attempted robbery ultimately led to a man’s death in a Bronx pharmacy, and a worker who was inside the store at the time recalled the harrowing moments. NBC New York’s Checkey Beckford reports.
A 27-year-old man was shot to death inside a Bronx pharmacy Thursday afternoon during an attempted robbery, according to law enforcement sources.
A call about the gunfire at the Amazing Pharmacy on East Tremont Avenue came in around 2 p.m. The victim was shot multiple times in the chest and pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital, police said.
A worker at the pharmacy told NBC New York that the victim made a purchase at the pharmacy earlier in the afternoon when he was there with a friend,
"He look like trouble guy...I saw that he had a lot of money," the worker said in an exclusive interview with NBC New York. She added that he waved a wad of cash around, and then put it on the counter before paying for eyedrops.
She said he returned 20 minutes later, this time standing outside with four other men. The employee said there was some sort of fight outside the store, and she believes the victim was trying to save himself.
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"They look like they fighting or arguing, I don't know," said the employee, who did not wish to be identified. "I saw that one of them had a gun."
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That's when she began to panic, she said.
"I went back there to the pharmacist screaming 'We have to move, have to move, because he have a gun, he have a gun!'" said the worker.
Once the victim was inside the store, the worker said that four men followed him in. One of the men pulled out a gun, firing four or five times, the employee said. Some of the employees ran to the basement, she added, while she and others hid behind the pharmacy counter.
Law enforcement sources said the victim was running away from the suspects, who were trying to rob him of the money the clerk had seen him display earlier. He was seeking shelter inside the pharmacy, where he was killed.
The worker said she heard man begging for his life.
"He said 'Please, please we can talk, we can talk," according to the worker.
None of the workers at the store recognized the victim, nor anyone who was involved in the shooting, according to the pharmacy employee. The victim's identity has not yet been released.
According to the preliminary investigation, four suspects fled the scene on foot. Three were last seen wearing white shorts and black shirts. One had on orange shorts and a Yankees hat, police said.
No possible motive was shared, and no arrests have yet been made. An investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
