A Brooklyn neighborhood is on edge after a bodega worker was executed by a gunman allegedly upset over being denied a free cigar — as one resident railed “you can’t just live a normal life anymore.”
“It’s sad. He didn’t use to bother anyone,” Crown Heights resident Barbara R., 62, said Tuesday, a day after 37-year-old Nazim Berry was shot in the back of the head by a killer who remains on the loose.
Berry had worked at Amin Deli as a clerk and was often seen cleaning up outside or stocking shelves, Barbara told The Post Tuesday. But on Monday at around 4:15 p.m. he was shot during an argument that was set off when he refused to give a crazed customer a free Black and Mild cigar that sells for about $2, according to cops and family.
The customer had left the store and come back with a gun and shot Berry in front of the store, according to the victim’s mother Hollie.
The shooting left residents like Barbara concerned about violence in the city.
“It’s getting so that you can’t just live a normal life anymore,” Barbara said. “Somebody comes up and asks you for a dollar, you have to wonder is this person going to kill me if I say no?”
One of Berry’s coworkers said the shooter didn’t appear to be a regular customer, but noted the victim was not someone who looked for trouble.
“All he wanted to do was help,” the coworker said, “”He didn’t drink, he didn’t do drugs.
“This is f–ked up! I hope they catch that bastard quick.”
Police released security camera images from inside and outside the deli of the man they believed pulled the trigger on Berry, and are asking the public for help in identifying him.
The images show the suspect wearing black pants, narrow metal-framed eyeglasses, and a distinct varsity-style jacket with black-and-white patterned sleeves and a large D on the chest.
Berry had worked at the deli for a long time, his mother said, and had previously been forced to deal with customers demanding free items.
“I knew that it had to be over something stupid because I know his heart,” his mother told reporters, describing her son as a “beautiful person.”
The United Bodega Workers of America has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the slaying.
