Store worker charged after allegedly stabbing knife-wielding man in Harlem

HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- The Harlem deli clerk who allegedly stabbed a man has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Ahmed Hafeed, 22, is now facing charges after being interviewed by police nearly all day long on Friday.

Police reviewed video from inside the deli showing the stabbing

"It was a fight. Like you and me getting down and we going at it like that you know and I pull up, 'What, what,' and they tossing and turning you know like that and the guy he wasn't giving up," said Laverne Allen, a witness.

It was a deadly scuffle that started inside the Harlem deli, then spilled out into the street.

Police say a 46-year-old man demanded free food from the clerk, then threatened to come back with a weapon when he was told to leave.

A half an hour later, he returned as promised, time wielding a knife.

That's when things turned ugly.

"The blood was all over the counter, it was all over the floor. I mean it looked like a horror scene truthfully," Allen said. "He grabbed the knife and then the guy grabbed it back and they tossed it and they stuck him and it stayed in him. When he got out here, that's when I seen the knife in him. And when he got right here, that's when he pulled it out and then he ran over here."

It happened on West 145th Street at around 9 a.m. Friday.

Hafeed is accused of stabbing the the man multiple times in the chest.

The 46-year-old man was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.

Witnesses say Hafeed walked away with minor cuts and bruises.

The clerk's family says they're proud he fought back.

"He was trying to protect himself and protect the store," the clerk's family member said.

A knife was recovered at the scene.