RICHMOND, Va., -- A community mourns the death of a store clerk and father who was killed in the parking lot of his convenience store in Richmond's East End, early Wednesday morning.
Police said they found a man dead with gunshot wounds at the intersection of Nine Mile Road and North 30th Street in Richmond's East End at 12:40 a.m.
Employees at the Sam Market said store owner Habeeb "Sam" Hefeed was the victim. Sonny Gazali said Hefeed had just locked up his store for the night.
"I want to believe it's fake," Gazali said fighting back tears. "I want to believe everybody will come out from the corner and it's like a joke and that he's going to come out laughing like he always does."
Hefeed was married and a father to two young children.
"He's like the kind of person who looks out for you, like as a friend and as a brother," Gazali said.
Captain James Laino said detectives do not believe the motive was robbery.
Hefeed's death marked the city's 37th homicide of the year. There were 22 people murdered during this time in 2015.
Police shut down Nine Mile Road for several hours as officers investigated and searched for the shooter.
Detectives didn't have a suspect description but were interviewing possible witnesses in the area Wednesday.
If you have information that could help police, call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.