Bridgeport mini-mart clerk fatally shot by masked man

BRIDGEPORT (WABC) -- A mini-mart clerk was shot and killed by a masked man Wednesday morning in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Police say the suspect entered the T Market on Reservoir Avenue at 8 a.m. and fired several shots, striking 32-year-old Hakeem Joseph multiple times in the stomach.

When officers arrived, they found a pool of blood just inside the door and the Joseph behind the counter. He was transported to St. Vincent's Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The suspect was last seen running on Trumbull Avenue toward Fiske Avenue.

The motive was not immediately clear, and detectives were still examining surveillance video that shows the killer entering the store and killing the clerk in cold blood.

No money was taken from the register and nothing was missing from the shelves, so it did not appear that attempted robbery played a role.

The gunman was inside the store for no more than a matter of moments before he opened fire.

Stunned friends and relatives gathered outside the victim's home, which is just a short distance from the store and declined to discuss the case. Investigators are vowing to work round the clock to find the gunman and to uncover the motive for the murder.

The suspect is described only as a masked male wearing a dark gray or black hooded sweatshirt and tan-colored camouflage pants.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

It was the year's second homicide in the state's largest city.