Pakistani family struggling to get answers after gas station employee relative shot in the head in the Bronx
NEW YORK -- A family in Pakistan has issued a desperate plea for answers after their relative was shot in the head while working at a gas station in the Allerton section of the Bronx.
They're at a loss over who would shoot him and why, and they're trying to piece together details from the other side of the world.
They shared new video of the moments leading up to the heinous crime with CBS2's Tim McNicholas on Sunday.
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Doctors at Jacobi Hospital are trying to save the life of Zulfiqar Ali Albi, a gas station employee shot on the job a few days ago. His family is thousands of miles away in Pakistan.
"They will let us know that is there any possible damage to his brain," nephew Mahmood Sarfraz said.
Sarfraz said they are relying on a family friend in the U.S. for updates.
"The main problem we are getting there is no immediate family members available there in the States," Sarfraz said. "We are just trying out best. We're trying to contact all the authorities."
Video obtained by CBS2 from just before the shooting shows three people inside the gas station. A man approaches the closed door, appears to point at something near the pumps, and then Ali Albi opens up. One of the other employees told CBS2 off camera the gunman did not say anything before he fired, and then ran away.
"So we thought that it was clearly something which was planned," Sarfraz said. "We want to make sure that that guy doesn't go to another person, another family, and he don't do to another guy."
The family said they have no idea why someone would hurt Ali Albi, whom Sarfraz said has worked at the gas station for about 12 years. He described him as the head of their family, always helping out relatives, and now they're trying to fly his adult son to the U.S to help him.
"Because it gonna take months for him to be able to recover so he can fly and we don't have any immediate family in the States," Sarfraz said.
Shootings in the area are up. The incident was the 25th shooting so far this year in the 49th Precinct, compared to 15 this time last year.
"It's sad thing," Hammad Singleton said.
It's a problem that frustrates Singleton and the Bronx anti-violence group SOS -- or Save Our Streets.
"There's a lot of normalizing going on in our community. They wake up, they hear the gunshots. Kids think that's normal. The elderly are afraid to go to the store. They think that's normal," Singleton said.
Ali Albi is still unconscious and his family said doctors have completed at least one surgery.
"Honestly, we are still in shock because he was head of our family," Sarfraz said.
The family considers it a miracle that Ali Albi is still alive.
