NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Police are looking for several suspects after a bodega worker was stabbed to death in Inwood all because he asked his attackers to move away from his storefront.
Candles and a bouquet of flowers lay on the ground outside the walls of the Dyckman Kwik Stop where the NYPD says 28-year-old bodega worker Mohamed Awawdah, of New Rochelle, went outside and asked a group of men to move away from the store's entrance around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
They took offense and one pulled out a knife and stabbed Awawdah in the chest, leaving him to bleed out onto the street.
Francisco Marte from the Bodega Association of the U.S. says Awawdah was on his way to becoming a first time father.
"His wife is seven months pregnant," Marte said. "Can you imagine what a tragedy it is when a new baby is coming without knowing who was his father."
Nearby residents say the area has become much safer over the past few years, but there are now calls for more police to patrol Dyckman Street.
City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez says this violent incident is the reason he's pushing legislation that would create a panic button for bodega workers that would connect them directly to the NYPD.