14 DAY TRIAL // NYPD search for a man believed responsible for three shootings in the City of New York. The killer has displayed serial killer qualities, as he always uses the same MO.
According to the Examiner, three shopkeepers have been gunned down while at work, with a .22-caliber gun. The incidents all occurred at night, when the attendants were closing down the shop.
A break in exposing the killer's pattern surfaced as investigators tried to link the victims, and found only one connection – all the store addresses contained the number 8.
“We’re definitely looking into the number-8 angle. [...] But we’re not any closer to solving the case because of it,” a law-enforcement source says.
A tall, balding man with a mustache was caught on CCTV, carrying a black duffel bag, in the proximity of the last crime scene, NBC New York reports. The same man was also spotted near the shooting scene, in the August case.
All the victims are Middle Eastern men, with the first known incident occurring on July 6, at the Valentino Fashion in Bay Ridge. The second murder occurred on August 2, at the Amazing 99 Cents Deal Shop in Bensonhurst.
What the two crime scenes had in common was that the cash register in the shop had been emptied. That was not the case in the most recent killing. The same gun was used in the three cases.
78-year-old Vahidipour Rahmatollah is the latest victim, shot twice in the head, from behind the counter of the store. Whoever ended his life dragged him to the back of the store, but left the cash register intact. Police believed the killer then covered his face with clothes as he made his escape.
The shooting took place at the She-She Boutique in Flatbush. Store owners whose addresses are marked with the number 8 are frightened, as no suspects have been arrested to this point. So far, it seems Brooklyn store attendants have been targeted exclusively.