A GoFundMe page has been set-up to help support the family of a beloved gas station employee who police said was shot in the head at close range while at work in the Allerton section of The Bronx on Tuesday evening, Nov. 22.

 

A police spokesperson said an unidentified man, wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt and mask approached [inaudible] gas station, located at Astor Avenue and Boston Road at 7.07 p.m. and knocked on the door.

 

“When the 49-year-old male employee opened the door, the individual displayed a gun and fires it, striking the male in the head,” the police spokesperson said.

“The victim was transported to Jacobi Hospital,” the spokesperson added. Police said the victim is not likely to die, there are no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing.

 

Asked if there were other customers at the gas station at the time of the incident, police said they could not confirm this at this time.

 

A message posted on Tuesday evening on a Pelham Parkway Facebook group page read, “Please pray for [name withheld] the gas attendant who is outside every night working. He is one of the nicest [men], always [says] hi and talks to you. This is heartbreaking.”

 

The message continued, “He was shot in the back of the head tonite. This happened at Sunoco gas station on Astor Avenue and Boston Road.”

We spoke to local resident, Roxane Delgado, later on Tuesday, who was at the scene of the shooting after it occurred on Tuesday evening, and she reiterated the words used to describe the gas station employee, saying every time she was on her way home from work, he was always there, “one of the nicest men that you would ever meet.”

 

She added, “Always says hi, always starts a conversation, tells you to get home safe, and wishes you a good night.” She continued, “I mean it’s unbelievable that they would target this man…. or that this man was the one that was shot,” she said. “It’s very sad to hear that.”

 

She said she spoke to the owners of the gas station about the employee in question and that they asked her to pray for him because he was “in serious condition.” She added, “I was in shock. I can’t believe….of all the people to get shot in the community, it would be him, the nicest man we have. He was out there every night. He was the one that was pumping the gas. He was there every night, no matter if it was cold, hot, it was raining, he was out there all night.”

 

She added that “a bunch of police” and an ambulance were at the gas station earlier on Tuesday evening when she was on her way home.

Officers from the @NYPD49Pct recently obtained a search warrant following a domestic violence call & recovered two shotguns, a bulletproof vest, an airsoft rifle & pistol were recovered. Our officers will continue to be on the front lines keeping you safe. https://t.co/YNau40SgI2

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 22, 2022

 

A verified video posted to the Citizens’ app on Tuesday showed emergency services responding to an incident at the apparent gas station.

 

In a separate incident on Monday, Nov. 21, the NYPD reported that, following a reported domestic violence call, officers from the 49th Precinct obtained a search warrant for a location in the vicinity of Allerton Avenue. There, they recovered two shotguns, a bulletproof vest, and airsoft rifle and a pistol.

 

On Wednesday, Nov. 23, the following GoFundMe page, created by Tamoor Hameed, was shared by the Friends of Pelham Parkway Facebook group. Norwood News later spoke with Hameed, who said the impacted employee, Ali Zulifqar, was still recovering in hospital and has been working for his father for 16 years. He added that Zulifqar and his family were very close.

 

Hameed later shared an update on Zulifqar’s condition on social media, writing, “He has undergone surgery and now is in recovering phase.”

 

The following message accompanied the page, “At the very misfortunate news, Mr. Ali was shot working at around 7:00 pm at a gas station. He is currently recovering. This would like to help alleviate stress from him and his family as he fights to make it through this hardship. Help him with rent, medical bills, and his family as he recovers.”

 

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.