Hunt is on for attempted robbery, shooting suspect

Police are searching for a suspect who tried to rob a bodega in Brownsville and then opened fire on a newspaper delivery truck Tuesday morning. Mohsind Kassim says he was locking his bodega, located

News 12 Staff

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Apr 21, 2009, 6:00 PM

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Updated 5,722 days ago

Police are searching for a suspect who tried to rob a bodega in Brownsville and then opened fire on a newspaper delivery truck Tuesday morning.

Mohsind Kassim says he was locking his bodega, located at 270 East 98th St., after getting the morning paper delivery when a masked gunman tried to force his way into his store.

"He put the gun to the door, and I locked it and ran to the back of the store," Kassim says. "I'm very lucky."

Police say when the suspect realized he wasn't able to enter the bodega, he went after deliveryman Joe Amato, who was sitting in his parked truck.

"As I took off, he took a shot and missed my head by a centimeter," Amato says.

Amato says the gunman then tried to rob a passerby and attempted to break into a car and burglarize a nearby house.

Kassim says he is considering closing down his business, especially since he is related to the father and son who were killed inside their Crown Heights bodega in March.

Anyone with information about the attempted robberies is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.