By Peter A. Sutters Jr.
Valan Bektesi, 19, of 65th Place in Glendale was walking down the street in the area of 85th Road and Woodhaven Boulevard when a car pulled up and a man got out and shot Bektesi twice in the chest before fleeing the scene, according to witnesses. Police said the shooting took place at 1:30 p.m. in broad daylight within the 102nd Precinct and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.Witnesses said Bektesi was arguing with someone on his cell phone after attempting to visit a friend or business partner in the neighborhood who was not home. No arrests have been made as of Wednesday and an investigation was ongoing, according to police. William Johnert, who lives just down the block from the shooting, said several people he talked to at the scene told him the shooting had something to do with money. “A couple of guys who were friends with him came up to me at the scene,” said Johnert. “They said they heard it was over money.” Johnert has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and said this type of crime is “very uncommon” and the area is a safe one. Other witnesses at the scene said Bektesi was involved in an Internet file-sharing business with a partner and there was a problem over money, but they were unsure if that had anything to do with the murder. Johnert said an uncle of Bektesi arrived at the scene of the shooting and set up a memorial with candles at the spot where his nephew's life was cut short.”I was just trying to comfort him,” said Johnert. “He seemed pretty upset.” At age 13, Bektesi wrote a letter to former President Bill Clinton about how he worried about the safety of relatives, who had fled to Albania and Macedonia from Kosovo during the conflict there, according to a story in the Christian Science Monitor in May 1999. Devat Bektesi, Valan's father, told the newspaper, “My son worries all the time about his cousins who are his age, with all the guns and bullets over there.”No additional information was available on Bektesi's roots in the Glendale community or his family's country of origin.Bektesi's family members gathered at their home in Glendale over the weekend, but declined to comment. Reach reporter Peter A. Sutters by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 ext. 173.
