A shoplifting turned deadly in Brooklyn yesterday when a crook stealing razors stabbed a well-liked Rite Aid assistant manager who caught him in the act, police said.
Confronted by the 34-year-old worker in the Coney Island store, the killer stabbed the assistant manager three times with a six-inch kitchen knife, police sources said.
As the assistant manager lay dying, the killer, described as a black man in his 30s, dropped the knife and ran off.
The six-inch kitchen knife was recovered at the murder scene.
The Rite Aid assistant manager – whose name was not released – was dead on arrival at Coney Island Hospital.
Police sources said surveillance video of the incident shows the killer.
“It is a terrible tragedy,” said Judy Cook, a Rite Aid spokeswoman.
She said the company brought in grief counselors to work with employees at the store on Mermaid Avenue, in Mermaid Plaza near KeySpan Park.
People in the neighborhood said they knew the assistant manager.
“He took his job very seriously,” said Jonna Graham, 38. “Maybe he took it too seriously. I guess he was trying to protect his store.”
“He was a nice guy,” said Joseph Powell, 70. “He went out of his way to help people.”