NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Police are searching for two suspects in the killing of a deli owner who was shot during a robbery on Staten Island over the weekend.
The NYPD released video Monday of the pair they're after in the deadly hold-up at the Manor Deli and Convenience in Castleton Corners on Saturday evening.
The victim, 35-year-old Bassam Khateeb, co-owned the deli and had a wife and two children.
One neighbor told the Staten Island Advance that Khateeb was as a "stellar" person and a "hell of a guy."
It was reportedly common for Khateeb to work at the deli alone into the evening.
Shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday, two men entered his business at 444 Manor Rd. and tried to rob him.
During the robbery, they shot Khateeb in the chest, police said. He was rushed to Richmond University Medical Center but couldn't be saved.
Surveillance video shows the two suspects trying unsuccessfully to enter a smoke shop at 1949 Richmond Ave. shortly before the deadly holdup.
When they were unable to rob the smoke shop, they went to Khateeb's deli, police said.
A second video shows them entering the deli—and then rushing out the front door after the fatal shooting. One of them appears to have a gun in his right hand, the video shows.
The robbers fled the area in a red Jeep Cherokee with unknown plates that was last seen headed on the New Jersey–bound Staten Island Expressway, according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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