The NYPD released video footage and a photo of a suspect sought in connection to the shooting that occurred in the Allerton section of The Bronx on Nov. 22, 2022, during which a gas station employee was shot in the head at close range. Video courtesy of the NYPD

The NYPD and the Philadelphia Police Department are asking for the public’s help identifying the person seen in the attached photo who is sought in connection to an attempted murder of a Philadelphia parking authority officer. They also believe the same person may be responsible for another recent, non-fatal shooting in The Bronx that ended with a gas station employee being hospitalized and fighting for his life.

 

Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police said they believe there may be a connection between the Philadelphia incident and the gun assault on the gas station employee that occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at a Sunoco gas station in the Allerton section of The Bronx.

 

As previously reported, on the day in question, at around 7 p.m., at the Sunoco gas station located at 2290 Boston Road, 59-year-old male employee, Ali Zulifqar, was inside a locked storefront at the location when a man approached the locked door.

 

As the employee opened it to assist the person, he displayed a gun and fired it about two times, striking the employee once in the head. The gunman then fled the location on foot in an unknown direction. EMS responded, and transported the aided male to NYC Health and Hospitals/Jacobi, where he remained in critical condition.

 

The gunman was last seen wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt and black boots.

 

On Friday, Nov. 25, at 4536 Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia, an unidentified person wearing a facemask, armed with a silver revolver, approached an on-duty Philadelphia parking authority enforcement officer from behind. The gunman fired once, striking the officer’s head before fleeing onto the 1500 block of Gillingham Street towards Griscom Street.

The gunman was described as a male with a medium build. “He was last seen wearing a blue, hooded jacket, a dark-colored ski mask, gray pants. black boots, and black gloves,” a police spokesperson said.

 

The attached surveillance photo which shows the person sought was provided by the Philadelphia Police Department, the NYPD said.

 

Police said the determination regarding a possible connection between the two shooting incidents was made based on the similarities of the physical characteristics and clothing of the person sought, as well as the circumstances surrounding both shootings.

 

 

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, together with the CEO of Amalgamated Bank, is pushing for implementation of a new method to enforce anti-gun trafficking provisions. Gillibrand will call for the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help implement a new merchant category code for purchases from firearm retailers, including working with financial institutions to publish an advisory regarding the reporting of suspicious activity relating to firearm purchases.

 

Merchant category codes (MCCs) are four-digit codes assigned to credit card transactions that identify the primary purpose of the retailer. Until recently, gun and ammunition retailers did not have a unique MCC, making it difficult for financial institutions to recognize and report suspicious activity related to purchases from those stores.

 

Gillibrand is urging the immediate implementation of the newly created MCC for gun and ammunition retailers, and that all necessary support and resources be provided to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the relevant DOJ entities to assist with the implementation.

 

The senator believes that the utilization of the new MCC for gun and ammunition retailers will aid in enforcing the anti-gun trafficking provisions from her Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act that were included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that passed earlier this year.

 

Meanwhile, as reported, a lawsuit has been filed challenging part of New York State’s gun reform package, signed into law earlier this year. State law, A.7583-A, which took effect Friday, Dec. 3, requires social media networks to provide and maintain mechanisms for reporting hateful conduct on their platforms and to disclose how they respond to such reports.

 

Bloomberg has reported the law was challenged by the Volokh Conspiracy legal blog and the Peter Thiel-backed video site, Rumble Inc., which, Bloomberg reports, claims the law will hurt online services and seek to silence unfavorable but constitutionally protected expression.

 

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.