Owner Fatally Shot Inside Store Near Cabrini
UPDATED: Oct. 17, 2010 9:30 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) - A much-admired store owner who served the Near North neighborhood for several years was fatally shot inside one of his establishments Saturday night.
Bassam Naoum, 59, was shot six times at 8:52 p.m. inside the Munchies Market, at 950 N. Orleans St. near the Cabrini-Green public housing development.
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Naoum was trying to run out of the store as he was shot, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Blood, broken refrigerator glass and bags of potato chips were seen at the spot where Naoum was shot. But police question whether robbery was the motive because money was still left in the cash register.
The Jordanian immigrant, who was nicknamed "Ollie," also owned Ollie's Foods a few blocks away at 1012 N. Larrabee St.
Standing outside Munchies Sunday, the victim's wife of 32 years, Phoebe Naoum, said her husband was known by the people in the area for his generosity and kindness.
"He loved the community; loved Cabrini-Green. He'd been here for many, many years. He was an important part of the community; took it very seriously," Phoebe Naoum said.
While Bassam Naoum understood the risks of operating a business in the neighborhood, he thought it was worth it.
"He had so much confidence in the neighborhood. He wasn't foolhardy; he understood it. But he was willing to take the risk," she said.
The victim's wife disagreed with police about the circumstance of the crime, saying it most likely was a robbery. Police said nobody else was inside the store and no other injuries were reported.
Neighboring churches dedicated Sunday services to the store owner, and regular customers praised him as a kind person who would give food to the needy. Friends chose to remember Naoum for the way he lived his life -- not the brutal way it came to an end.
"I could write a book about Bassam and how genuine and how generous he is," Gazi Mashal said.
Naoum, of the 5400 block of South Cornell Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood, was pronounced dead at 9:23 p.m. Saturday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
A description of the gunman was not immediately available, and nobody was in custody Sunday, police said.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole, WBBM Newsradio 780's Mary Frances Bragiel and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
