Police: Store Clerk Killed After Man Grabs Cop's Gun, Opens Fire In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man grabbed a police officer's gun Tuesday morning and opened fire inside a bodega, killing a deli clerk before being shot and wounded by another officer in the Bronx, police said.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, authorities late Tuesday were trying to determine just how such a thing could have happened.
More than a dozen yellow evidence markers surrounded by shattered glass chronicled the shooting melee at the A&M Deli, at East 198th Street and Valentine Avenue in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx. The shooting rattled the neighborhood and left bodega worker Wali Camara dead.
"Unbelievable that he just died like this," said neighbor Julieo Espenal. "Rest in peace."
"He was always very nice; always respectable," said neighbor Geno Baker. "I think his only problem is he cared too much. That's how he ended up in this situation."
Camara, 49, was working at N&A Food, 222 E. 198th St., around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Police said he got into a quarrel with Efram Guzman, 30, and Guzman then left and walked into a bodega across the street where he got into another quarrel with clerks and customers.
Police said Camara ran across Valentine Avenue to the bodega – the A&M Deli at 230 E. 198th St., - to warn the people there that he was familiar with Guzman.
Locals flagged down police.
Two responding officers were trying to escort Guzman out of the store when he grabbed one officer's gun and fired 15 times. Camara was fatally struck.
"The officer struggled with Mr. Guzman to regain control of his gun, when the second officer fired three shots at Mr. Guzman, striking him twice," said NYPD Assistant Chief Larry Nikunen, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Bronx.
Police said Guzman went on firing after he was shot by the officer, and one of those bullets struck Camara.
The suspect is said to have emptied the magazine, letting out 15 rounds, CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
Police said they were reviewing tactics, equipment and surveillance video to figure out how Guzman got his hands on the gun.
"Mr. Guzman made a very fast move and basically ripped the gun out of the officer's holster," Nikunen said. "It's not an easy thing to do. If the gun is in the holster -- it has to be -- the holster has to be unclasped, and then you would have to move the gun in the holster and pull it out. But it is possible. It happened."
Camara's friend, Thomas Baumann, said he heard the gunfire.
"I was lying down in my bed and all of a sudden I hear, 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,'" he told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck.
Police said Camara was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Camara's family came to the crime scene hoping to get answers.
"Right now, very emotional -- I don't know what to say," said Camara's brother-in-law, Mody Doucoure. "We just want to know what's going on."
Late Tuesday afternoon, Camara's family came to the crime scene hoping to get answers. Doucoure said Camara had emigrated from Mali to the United States 20 years ago and was working to support family in Africa, as well as a son studying in Paris.
"Very nice person; very, very friendly, nice person; very nice," Doucoure said, adding that it did not at all surprise him that Camara had left his own store and put himself in danger to protect another business.
"Kind, humble," another resident said. "He was a real dude."
Baumann said all Camara did was work and stay out of trouble.
"This guy, he just went to work, came home from work, go to work," he said. "If they called him, he would come down from his sleep to come down to work."
Guzman was also taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, and his condition was reported to be stable.
Nikunen said video of the incident has been recovered from the store's security camera and said investigators would be reviewing how the suspect was able to get ahold of the officer's gun.
"Obviously, we're going to review all the tactics and the equipment involved, but looking at the video, Mr. Guzman made a very fast move and basically ripped the gun out of the officer's holster," he said.
The investigation was ongoing late Tuesday.