Brooklyn, NY – New York City police detectives Wednesday recovered a sawed-off rifle believed to have been used in the mysterious shooting deaths of three businessmen of Middle Eastern descent, and a person was in custody, a law enforcement official said.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The Ruger 10-22 rifle had a makeshift light attached to its barrel and was found inside a duffel bag belonging to a balding, middle-aged man who was seen on surveillance footage moments after the most recent killing on Friday in Brooklyn, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The rifle uses the same .22-caliber ammunition that has been found at all three crime scenes.
Police did not immediately release his name, but The NY Daily News is reporting that law enforcement sources named him as Salvatore Perrone. They said he turns 64 on Thursday, is from Staten Island and is believed to be the man whose image was captured most clearly in surveillance video from the latest murder scene in Flatbush.
He sells merchandise — mostly clothing — to stores, police sources said.
“We’re talking to somebody who fits the description of the man in the (video). He came in voluntarily,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
The most recent killing happened Friday afternoon when Rahmatollah Vahidipour, a Jewish man from Iran, was shot three times in the head and chest at his store, the She She Boutique.
After the latest killing, detectives discovered the same gun was used in the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers when ballistics matched the .22-caliber gun shell casings on all three. On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, 65, an Egyptian immigrant and a Muslim, was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc. On Aug. 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also Egyptian but Jewish, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.
There were other similarities, authorities said: The shops all lacked surveillance cameras, and the owners were alone in the store. The bodies were all partially obscured by clothing or, in one case, a box. The locations of the shops form a triangle and are each about 4 miles apart, with addresses that contain the number eight. Money was taken from everyone but Vahidipour, 78, who had $171 in his pocket.
The bag contained .22-caliber ammunition, black gloves and women’s stockings, and two knives – one that may have had blood on it, the official said.
Glad he’s off the streets for now. But with our “justice system” he’ll probably claim insanity and get away with “murder”.
If he is a supplier, he may have been owed money by the storeowners, and given the state of the economy and how many storekeepers cannot pay bills, he could have just lost his marbles. No excuse for him, but I wonder how many formerly prosperous or at least self-sufficient members of our communities are suffering in silence and are one unpaid bill away from losing everything because of the economy.
Good work by the NYPD. These cameras on the streets really work.
Yakov Doe- are you related to John Doe duffle bag ? 🙂