Exclusive video shows moment Bronx cannabis shop clerk fatally shoots robber
Surveillance footage obtained by the Daily News shows the moment a Bronx weed shop employee fatally shot a robber who was chased out of the same store just 40 minutes earlier.
“He was determined to rob this place,” Mo Gahb, who co-owns Top Shelf smoke shop, told The News. “It was self-defense.”
Clerk Fares Alhazmi, 26, was arrested after shooting 23-year-old Romel Carey Wednesday inside the 24-hour store that sells cannabis products on E. Tremont Ave. near Anthony Ave. in Morris Heights, cops said.
Video shows Carey walking into the store around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday. He appears to be looking at products, but pulls out a gun and points it at Alhazmi behind the counter.
The clerk whipped out his own handgun and scared off Carey, who ran out the front door.
About 40 minutes later, the would-be robber came back to the store as Alhazmi dealt with a customer.
This time, Carey walked in with his gun drawn and immediately pointed it at the clerk, who ran back and forth behind the counter avoiding the barrel of the firearm, the video shows.
As the customer is seen slowly walking away from the chaos and Carey dashes toward the door, Alhazmi fires a shot from behind his back – hitting the attempted robber in the head.
Carey collapses, his body striking the customer who was on his way out the front door.
He died at the scene.
On Thursday, Alhazmi was charged with criminal possession of a firearm. No further charges were pending, the Bronx District Attorney’s office said.
“Fares was only trying to save his life,” said Gahb. “He just graduated from school. He wants to go to college, he’s already signed up for CUNY.”
