New York City police are looking for a possible serial killer after three similar murders occurred in the past four months.
A Brooklyn shopkeeper was shot to death on Friday, making it the third death of its kind. All three murders involve NYC victims who were shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent and all appear to have been shot by the same .22 caliber gun.
In July, 65-year old Mohammed Gebeli was killed. In August, 59-year old Isaac Kadare was shot in the head in his 99 cent store. Now 78-year old Vahidipour Rahmatollah is the latest victim to be killed in this string of attacks as he was shot at his clothing store on Friday, according to CNN.
Police suspect that a serial killer might be involved as it seems like the same gun was used in each incident, but they're not sure what the motive is.
"We're not sure of the motive," a police source told the Daily News. "Is it robbery and it's a coincidence that these victims all have a Middle Eastern background? It could be. . . . Or, is this guy targeting men because he hates Muslims or hates Arabs?"
In addition to the same gun being used in the killings, the murderer positioned the bodies in similar ways. Each victim's body was moved away from the store windows and was covered by clothing or merchandise.
"It's consistent with hiding anything from immediate view of the street, so that it's not seen from someone passing by right away," a police source told CNN. "It may have been done to give the killer more time to make (his) getaway," added another police source.
Each store address involved in the case contained the number eight, which could be another factor to consider. All of the stores are within a five-mile radius of each other.
However there were some differences in each case. Two of the victims were robbed, but it isn't clear if the latest victim was also robbed. Also, the first victim was stabbed in the neck in addition to being shot.While most of the victims seem to be of Middle Eastern descent, their nationalities varied.
"Some of the victims had an Arabic or Persian background, one was Jewish, but there was no one religion or ethnicity, although that might not be obvious to the killer," Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said.
Police have four unknown people that appear in surveillance footage outside of the stores as they may have been witnesses to the latest killing.
"Detectives want to question them about what they may have observed because of the time of day and their proximity to the homicide scene," Browne said in a statement, according to ABC.
Police have also issued a sketch of a person of interest, being called "John Doe Duffel Bag". A 5-foot-5 black man, who weighs 140 pounds and was wearing sunglasses was seen talking on his phone about killing someone near Vahidipour's store, just two hours before the shooting.
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