Bodega owners in the Bronx are on high alert after a
violent incident at a Fordham deli on
Sunday.
Police say on the afternoon of June 13, a 17-year-old
male was attacked inside a bodega on Decatur Avenue.
Video surveillance shows two men walk up to the victim and assault him. One of
the suspects allegedly grabbed a knife from behind the store’s counter and
stabbed the victim once in the abdomen.
The teen
survived and is expected to recover. None of the store’s workers were
harmed, but they witnessed the ordeal.
News 12 is told an organization representing bodega owners is worried more
attacks may leave community members hurt -- and innocent owners caught in the
middle of violence.
A representative from the United Bodega of America tells News 12 their worry
increases each time violence like Sunday’s incident happens.
“People run into bodegas every single
day trying to find safe haven because they're being chased by somebody on the
streets,” says the representative. “We can't do anything about it. We're not
armed. All we can do is try to stop and intervene and while we're doing that we
could get killed.”
Solutions the
organization is proposing include allowing store owners to hold pistol
permits for protection, along with the request to see more action from the city
and police. They hope for better protection and responses to incidents like
Sundays.