Middle Eastern shopkeepers scared for lives for serial killer on loose in NYC

The NYPD added a hate-crimes detective to the hunt for a serial killer who may be targeting Brooklyn shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent — and continues to strike fear in business owners worried they will be next.
The twist in the chase for the .22-caliber killer, who has struck three times in four months, came Sunday as the latest target in the homicidal spree, Rahmatolla Vahidipour, was laid to rest and fellow shop owners tightened security.
The fear comes as the NYPD remains stumped.
“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?
Neighbors of Vahidipour’s Flatbush Ave. shop said they were bolstering security regardless of the motive, terrified the madman could snatch their lives, too.
“I’m scared for my own store. I think that because I’m Middle Eastern, someone is going to come in and put a bullet in my head. It’s very scary,” said David Elmann, 24, a Lebanese immigrant and owner of Coolwear clothing on Flatbush Ave.
“I’m definitely going to put cameras outside,” added Elmann, who has hired more staff so that no one has to work in the store alone.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne was hesitant to link the killings to a bias against Middle Easterners, saying the evidence so far does not support the theory.
“We’ve added the detective from the hate crimes task force . . . to cover for the possibility that it’s a hate crime,” Browne explained Sunday.
Vahidipour, 78, a devout Jew from Iran, was shot three times in the head and chest at his Flatbush store, She She Boutique. His body was discovered Friday evening hidden under clothes at the rear of the business.
The .22-caliber gun used in the Vahidipour slaying is the same weapon used to kill two other shop owners, cops said.
The bullet-riddled body of Mohammed Gebeli, 65, an Egyptian immigrant and a Muslim, was found July 6 hidden in the back of his Bay Ridge shop, Valentino Fashion Inc. On Aug. 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also from Egypt but of Jewish faith, was discovered shot in the head and slashed in the neck in his Bensonhurst store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.
A police source said no evidence linking the victims has been uncovered, even with the assistance of Interpol.
Money was taken in the first two slayings, but Vahidipour was not robbed, police said.
“The gun is the same. The detectives’ operating premise is that it is the same gunman, too,” Browne said.
Cops returned to all three murder scenes Sunday, scouring for clues and questioning locals, some for a second time, in hopes of jarring memories. Detectives were also poring over security video from neighboring stores, hoping for a break.
The shop owner who discovered Vahidipour’s body said, “Whoever did this is sick.”
“The guy is still out there. I don’t want no problems,” said the shopkeeper, who did not want to be identified. “I haven’t slept since this happened. We’re always keeping two people in the store.”
Mohamed Elsayad, 58, owner of Pasha Fashion for Men on Flatbush Ave., admitted, “I’m scared.”
“I have a family,” said Elsayad, an Egyptian immigrant. “I have four kids. I want to be there for them.”
Cops continued to look for a “person of interest” they are eager to interview, a man spotted talking on his phone about killing someone near Vahidipour’s store Friday, about two hours before the shopkeeper’s body was discovered.
Police released a sketch of the man, described as a 5-foot-5 black man, 140 pounds and wearing sunglasses.
Cops also downplayed the theory that the killer is obsessed with numerology because each of the murder scenes has an “8” in the address.
“There is nothing to indicate anything beyond coincidence in the numbers,” a police source said.
The source admitted the investigation was going “very, very slow” as police poured over video of shops adjacent to Vahidipour’s store.
“But again, what are we looking for?” the source said.
Police continued to advise businesses to be on guard, and recommended they clear items blocking their windows so that passersby can see inside and report any suspicious activity.
“I wish they would catch him fast. God knows when it’s going to stop,” said Avi Zikry, 48, an Israeli immigrant store owner on Flatbush Ave.
“I’m definitely a little more careful,” Zikry added. “I make sure all the cameras are working. I have 16 cameras. I’m fully equipped.”
City Councilman Jumaane Williams and state Sen. Eric Adams, both Flatbush Democrats, called for a “tri-level task force” of NYPD, state police and FBI.
“Anyone with information on this, or any of the potentially connected shootings, needs to contact the NYPD so this killer can be taken off our streets and brought to justice,” Williams said.
Adams urged store owners, specifically those with Middle Eastern backgrounds, to be extra vigilant.
“They are the largest targets,” Adams said. “They don’t know the mind of the person doing it.”
Meanwhile, family and friends of Vahidipour, a grandfather of nine, filled the Ahavat Shalom Synagogue in Great Neck, L.I., to bid farewell.
“It’s really a source of comfort to see everybody’s faces,” Vahidipour’s daughter, Marjan, told mourners. “He loved me very much. He loved all of us.”
Vahidipour’s grandson, David Shokrian, said he’ll remember his family’s patriarch as a hard worker.
“He worked 364 days for nearly the past 20 years. He was never too sick, he was never too tired, he never complained,” Shokrian said.