NYPD: Man shoots 2 Brooklyn deli workers after dispute

RED HOOK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Two workers were shot inside a Brooklyn deli Tuesday morning, apparently following a dispute with a customer.

The incident happened inside the Famous Deli and Grocery on Hicks Street in the Red Hook section just before 9 a.m. Witnesses say the suspect left the bodega and retrieved a gun from his car before opening fire.

"It don't make no sense, you know, they had nothing to do with it," one witness said. "He was doing his job."

Police say a 33-year-old man was shot in the back, and a 52-year-old man was struck in the torso.

"Both of them was working in the deli," owner Mustafa Almansori said. "From what I heard from my co-worker right now, one of them was filling up the milk outside. That's the one that got shot badly. That's the one who got hurt badly. And the other guy just came outside. He was trying to help him, and then he got, then he shot him."

The younger victim was rushed to Lutheran Medical Center in critical condition, while the other man was taken to Methodist Hospital and is expected to survive.

"The guy came from behind him and shot him, while he was doing the milk," the witness said. "And then the other guy was trying to help him out, and then he shot him."

The gunman, wearing a red hoodie, fled the scene. Harry Austin, 42, was arrested at a C-Town supermarket down the block.

"There's nothing serious inside a store for somebody to come and do something like this," Almansori said. "It's a regular store. It's not, have nothing to do with the people's personal life outside."

Austin was reportedly in possession of a 9-mm firearm, and charges against him are pending.