Officials say chaos broke out at around 12:30 a.m. at the store on Queens Boulevard.
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The victim, a customer in his 20s or 30s, was stabbed in his chest and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
"We were going to the bodega on the corner and we saw him on the ground so everything stopped. We called 911 and assessed him and tried to help him," one eyewitness said. "I put my hands on his chest and tried to stop the bleeding, tried to check for a pulse."
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Authorities say no charges were immediately filed but a bodega employee was being questioned.
The United Bodegas of America released a statement, asking the public to avoid a rush to judgement:
"This is tragic, this is what we were trying to avoid, someone losing their life. We ask the public and the media not to jump to conclusions until NYPD detectives have pieced the puzzle. We are hoping NYPD video tapes will tell the real story of what happened. UBA believes DA Melinda Katz will be fair after reviewing the evidence and seeing the video tapes," said Fernando Mateo, spokesman for UBA.
One woman says she knows the man who usually works the night shift at the bodega and she says there has to be more to the story.
"He's not aggressive, he's very kind, I couldn't imagine him doing it for any other reason except self-defense," the resident named Frieda said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police. The investigation is ongoing.
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