Employee shot at Bay Ridge smoke shop

April 12, 2018 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Moe’s Smoke Shop at 7123 Fifth Ave., where an employee was shot on Wednesday. Eagle photo by John Alexander

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A usually safe and quiet business district in Bay Ridge was rocked shortly before midnight on Wednesday night when a gunman entered Moe’s Smoke Shop at 7123 Fifth Ave. and fired his weapon at a worker who was standing at the register.

“It was a robbery in progress,” according to store owner Mohammad Suleiman. “He asked for the money out of the register, the guy fired two shots. One hit the glass and one hit my employee in the stomach.”

According to Suleiman, the employee readily handed over the money but the gunman shot him anyway. He said that the robber did not get much money.

The victim underwent surgery at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn to remove the bullet. He is in stable condition, Suleiman said.

Suleiman said he had spoken to his employee and that he was still in pain. Fortunately, the shot missed any vital organs. “He was hit in the waist and the bullet went in and out,” Suleiman said. “He got shot in the stomach but he’s going to be okay. He’s going to make it. He’s going to be alright.”

Suleiman said that nothing like this has ever happened to him before and that the store was less than a year old. “And this is Bay Ridge,” Suleiman added. “I feel safe here.”

The employee is 38 years old and had only been working at the Smoke Shop for two weeks. Suleiman identified him as his second cousin. He said that the gunman’s face was covered and the employee was only able to speculate that the robber was Middle Eastern by the way he spoke and the way he pronounced certain words.

“This is only thing we got,” said Suleiman. “He couldn’t see his face or his eyes. And he was yelling, ‘Give me the money, give me the money,’ and when my employee handed him the money he shot him. He didn’t have to shoot him.”

Suleiman said, “It was just cold-hearted. Whoever it is, if you have faith in God, turn yourself in.”