Bronx bodega worker dies after getting struck by stray bullet

SOUNDVIEW (WABC) -- A worker who was shot while stocking vegetables outside a Bronx bodega last Thursday has died.

Police say it appears the victim was a totally innocent bystander.

In this part of the South Bronx they're all too familiar with senseless crime. But when that senselessness hits home the grief is simply overwhelming.

"He didn't deserve this," said Alex Gallardo, the bodega owner.

Gallardo is at a loss for words.

"He was, still is to me, a great person great man," Gallardo said.

He and his wife Cynthia mourned their employee and their best friend. Victor Chafla lost his fight for life days after finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I was trying to, I was screaming for help, but nobody could help nobody could do nothing about it," said Cynthia Zamora, the victim's friend.

It was broad daylight Thursday afternoon and Victor had stepped onto the sidewalk in front of VZ Deli on Morrison Avenue, where he's worked for close to a decade.

In the video, you see two men approach. One of them pulled a gun and opened fire at two other men down the block.

One man ran for his life and the other hit the ground. Victor never got up.

"He started bleeding from his head," Zamora said. "He was asking me for help. But I couldn't help. I couldn't help. I couldn't help."

Police thought he might pull through, but doctors at Jacobi Hospital took him off life support Tuesday.

He was here in New York to support his wife and seven kids back home in Ecuador, and was planning to return home for good in just a few years.

Those who knew him best are stunned.

"I lose my best friend and best employee. I think honestly I will never meet a friend like him or employee. Please, I don't want to talk now, please," Gallardo said.

Two suspects fled the scene.

The motive for the shooting was not known.