By Ivan Pereira
A Pakistani immigrant was gunned down Sunday morning while working the night shift at a Flushing gas station that an assemblywoman said had been plagued by an increase in criminal activity. Surveillance tape captured two men robbing the store and shooting the station attendant.
Police had not caught the two men who killed Nadeem Khan, 49, at the Mobil gas station at Roosevelt Avenue and College Point Boulevard by press time Tuesday. Khan, who lived in Valley Stream, L.I., was found slumped in his cashier’s station by a passerby around 1:30 a.m. and first responders were called to the scene, but they declared him dead at the scene.
Khan had moved to New York from Pakistan and lived with a relative on Long Island, according to police. He had a funeral at a mosque located close to the gas station and his body was being sent back to his native land for burial, family members told NY1.
Police said the immigrant was shot several times in the stomach during a burglary of the gas station’s convenience shop. Surveillance footage shows two black men, one dressed in a white hooded sweatshirt and the other dressed in a black T-shirt and black baseball cap, enter the store.
The suspect in the sweatshirt immediately walked toward Khan and began to fight, the footage showed. After Khan stumbled to the ground after being shot, the suspects removed undisclosed items from the cashier’s booth and left the store, according to the footage.
The man wearing black casually walked out of the booth while making a phone call on his cellular phone, the surveillance tape showed. Both men are described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and between 20 and 25 years old.
State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) said she had spoken with the owner of the gas station and he said his site had been the target of several burglaries and similar incidents over the last couple years. This weekend’s burglary was one of the first that the owner said resulted in someone getting hurt, according to the assemblywoman.
“Stuff like this has happened before,” she said.
The murder took place opposite the Bland Public Housing projects, but tenants of the building said they did not hear anything before the police showed up at the scene.
Over the last year murder has increased in the 109th Precinct, which oversees the neighborhood, police statistics show. In 2010, there have been five reported homicides compared to three during the same time last year, according to NYPD stats.
“This is the latest example about how people in Flushing are feeling nervous about the crimes that are happening,” Meng said of the murder.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, text their tips to 274637 then enter TIP577 or log on to nypdcrimestoppers.com. All reports will be kept confidential.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
