A 66-year-old soon-to-be grandfather was shot and killed while standing outside his son’s deli in Upper Manhattan on Tuesday evening.
Reda Girgis, who was visiting his son and pregnant daughter-in-law from Egypt, was on the phone with his son when he was struck by a stray bullet and tragically lost his life outside the ChopCheese Deli 2 in Washington Heights.
Law enforcement sources indicate he was an innocent bystander and the shooting is believed to be an unfortunate consequence of a gang-related dispute.
Girgis was standing on the corner of West 162nd street and Broadway at about 7:10p.m. when he struck in the head by a bullet likely intended for a gang rival, sources told the New York Post.
The bullets came from a dark gray SUV, possibly an Audi with New Jersey plates, according to The Post. After firing the shots, the driver fled the scene, heading south on Broadway, cops said.
Reda Girgis, 66, was on the phone with his son when he was struck by a stray bullet and tragically lost his life outside the ChopCheese Deli 2 in Washington Heights
Girgis was standing on the corner of West 162nd street and Broadway at about 7:10p.m. when he struck in the head by a bullet likely intended for a gang rival
Girgis was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The victim’s son, Haney Girgis, who owns the store, was not there at the time.
The deli manager Gamal Abouelezz said he heard firecrackers, according to The Post. ‘All of a sudden I saw the man land on the floor,’ he said.
‘The man who died is the father of the owner,’ Abouelezz said. ‘He came from Egypt to visit him three days ago. He was visiting his son and his pregnant daughter-in-law. He was here to celebrate the baby.’
‘His daughter-in-law came and they talked together. She was in the store dropping off groceries. All of a sudden I saw him shot. I saw the man die on TV. I went outside. Everyone was panicked,’ Abouelezz told the Post.
Video obtained by the Post shows a group of teenagers who had been hanging out before the shooting, run into the shop for safety before Girgis falls to the ground — with his son’s panicked wife then frantically running into the store.
Kim Rem, a regular at the deli and also a member of the Egyptian community knew Girgis.
The bullets came from a dark gray SUV, possibly an Audi with New Jersey plates
‘Very nice people. Very nice people. Decent, do everything good for the customer,’ Rem told ABC7.
The community has been offering condolences and showing support by visiting the deli.
‘These are hardworking people, they don’t deserve this,’ one Washington Heights resident Elizabeth Diaz said to CBS.
Another resident, Jessica Ramos said the deli owners used to offer her free food for a period of time when she was homeless: ‘It’s amazing what they used to do for me.’
‘He is a family man,’ Abouelezz said. ‘We don’t have a relationship but I feel too close to him from the beginning when I met him.’
According to witnesses, there was a large group of teenagers hanging out by the deli at the time of the shooting.
They believe one of the kids was the intended target.
The surveillance footage shows a crowd of bystanders gathering around Girgis’s body, with paramedics arriving minutes later, placing him on a stretcher, and performing chest compressions.
Police said they found two men who they believe were the intended targets, but were unable to provide any information, according to The Post.
Detectives remained on scene Wednesday morning.
The 24-hour deli was closed overnight, but has since reopened.
No arrests have been made yet. Officers said its an ongoing investigation and are reaching out to the public for anyone with information or tips.
‘It’s sad. I mean, I’m out here right now getting breakfast. It could be any of us,’ one resident told CBS.
‘He just came out here to smoke a cigarette,’ one person said.
‘I’ve been here for over 35 years and it’s just getting worse and worse.’
‘This store is in a dangerous spot. Not the first time, it’s a couple of times already something has happened with guns,’ Washington Heights resident Jose Rodriguez said.
Americans are continuing to flee crime-ridden, high-cost cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
New York City saw the biggest exodus with 404,000 residents leaving in the past two years due largely to crime.
Offenses were up nearly 23 percent in New York in 2022 under first-year mayor and former police officer Eric Adams, who had to assign additional police to the subway system to control skyrocketing crime.
However, overall major crimes are down in five of seven felony categories so far this year including: murder, rape, robbery, burglary and grand larceny.
Gun violence in particular took a fall, with shooting incidents down 23 percent so far in 2023 and shooting victims down 17 percent, according to the NYPD.
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