A Manhattan man trying to buy a snack is dead following an attempted deli robbery in the Bronx's East Tremont neighborhood.
According to the NYPD, the victim, who cops identified as Stefon Barnes, was in Gourmet Deli on East Tremont Avenue just before 4:30 a.m. Sunday when a stranger approached another man and reached for his pocket. Barnes and other customers inside seemed not to notice what was going on as the altercation escalated.
Police said the man who was being robbed appeared to have wrestled the gun away from the suspect. But as the scuffle turned physical, a gun went off.
Barnes, a 29-year-old who had been looking at the array of chips, was hit in the right thigh. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. No other injuries were reported.
Friends and family described it as an incredibly unfortunate "wrong place, wrong time" situation. Some say Barnes tried to intervene in the fight between the gunman and the other patron and saved more than a dozen lives in the process.
Barnes had been promoting a party at a nearby club earlier in the night and stopped at the deli to get some food when he was shot.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
The suspect was later seen leaving the deli with the weapon in hand. Police were looking into surveillance video which could help determine the individuals who got into the fight before the deadly shot was fired.
Local
A candlelit memorial grew outside the deli Tuesday.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
