The incident happened inside the Flatbush Deli Corp. Deli Grocery located at 803 Flatbush Avenue around 7:45 p.m.
Police say a man walked in with a gun and demanded cash, and a struggle ensued between the suspect and the clerk, 20-year-old Fadhl Moosa, who was behind the counter.
The gun went off, and Moosa was shot once in the head and died at the scene.
"Very good kid, always smiling, laughing, never upset," cousin Ragah Almakalani said. "But what can't I tell you we lose...it's a big loss."
Moosa worked at the family business part time, said Almakalani, who was at times at a loss for words.
"He worked there part time because he was supposed to go to college," he said. "He didn't want to be remote learning. He was waiting for it to be in person next year."
He said the family is devastated.
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"The family is very sad, shocked," he said. "What can I tell you, I can't even explain...They call me, there was fight or something. I didn't even know.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams also spoke out about the shooting and offered his condolences.
"A son was murdered here in the city," he said. "We are here to show our respect to this community."
Police questioned someone after the shooting, but it was determined that person was not the gunman.
No arrests have been made, and no one is in custody, but police have released surveillance video of a man wanted in connection to the shooting.
Man wanted in murder of Brooklyn deli worker
He is believed to be a somewhat regular customer who sometimes pays for items and sometimes does not. Police said he had been in the store earlier in the day to order an egg sandwich.
Naji Almontaser, with the Yemini American Merchants Association, says it's all part of a growing trend.
"I don't know what happened, what went wrong," he said. "It's just escalating everywhere."
He said change needs to happen, as well.
"These are folks that are trying to make a living, to make ends meet," he said. "We are all heartbroken. Something has to give. We have to start feeling human again. We have to have more compassion, less hate, less evil."
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Residents in the neighborhood said they knew the victim and are shocked.
"He's always nice -- if I'm short like 25 cents he'd hook me up -- I can't believe it," resident Nicholas Correa said. "I wish there was more police presence in the neighborhood."
Four police officers suffered minor injuries when they crashed their police cruiser while responding to the scene.
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