{"id":145085,"date":"2026-02-25T18:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/145085\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T18:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:36:19","slug":"panhandler-shot-dead-in-clash-over-holding-door-at-nyc-7-eleven-was-dad-who-fell-on-hard-times-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/145085\/","title":{"rendered":"Panhandler shot dead in clash over holding door at NYC 7-Eleven was dad who fell on hard times: family"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man shot dead by a fellow panhandler<\/a> in a clash over holding the door at a Hell\u2019s Kitchen 7-Eleven<\/a> was a father of three who had only recently fallen on hard times, his heartbroken family says.<\/p>\n

Mark Jackson was known to regularly hold open the door for change at the 7-Eleven at Eighth Ave. and W. 39th St., according to locals. When a fight over turf broke out between Jackson, 43, and a rival panhandler about 10:25 a.m. Feb. 12, his rival pulled a gun and fatally shot him in the neck inside the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was trying to rebuild his life. Sometimes that in and of itself can be a struggle,\u201d the victim\u2019s 44-year-old brother said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a guy who fell on hard times. A relationship didn\u2019t work out and he was trying to find his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson had been homeless off and on for only about a year before beings slain, his family says. After Jackson and his girlfriend split up, he moved out of their Bronx apartment and began sleeping in city shelters and on friends\u2019 couches.<\/p>\n

His brother suspected the heartbreak weighed heavily on Jackson.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of things he had been through in previous relationships, he probably wouldn\u2019t have told me that he cared that much about that woman but I think he did,\u201d he said. \u201cI think he wasn\u2019t expecting that situation not to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark Jackson, pictured, was fatally shot inside a 7-Eleven at the corner W. 39th St and Eighth Ave. in Manhattan. (Obtained by New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Jackson held a number of jobs through the years in construction and in warehouses. His last gig was delivering groceries for Whole Foods, the brother said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took a job that didn\u2019t work out, took another job that didn\u2019t work out,\u201d the brother said. \u201cAll of the sudden he finds himself by himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

That apparently led Jackson to resort to holding the door at the 7-Eleven for spare change. But that was a coveted position and pandhandlers warred over control of the spot, customers told the Daily News.<\/p>\n

One regular shopper stumbled upon the scene of the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI opened the door and stepped in and inside of two seconds I heard an argument,\u201d the customer, who wished not to be named, told the Daily News. \u201cI heard \u2018P\u2013sy! P\u2013sy!\u2019 and then a bang and I turned on my heels and walked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson died at the scene. His killer has not been caught.<\/p>\n

\"EmployeesEmployees of the NYC Office of the Medical Examiner remove the body of Mark Jackson from the 7-Eleven at W. 39th St. and Eighth Ave. in Manhattan on Feb. 12. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The brother said he encouraged Jackson to leave New York and even offered to let the victim come stay with him in Pennsylvania but Jackson was adamant about staying in the city, having been born and raised in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to do what we could but he really could be a little stubborn. You can make suggestions but he\u2019s going to do what he wants to do,\u201d said the brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to make sure that he was safe. I told him, \u2018Be careful of the people you\u2019re around. Not everybody is your friend, and some people, they don\u2019t have your best interest at heart. You got to be careful. You really have to be careful.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The victim\u2019s brother called the gunman, who remains on the lam, a coward.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t need to kill Mark,\u201d he said. \u201cWhatever level of conflict they thought they had or he thought that he couldn\u2019t resolve, it didn\u2019t need to escalate to where it did. Mark wasn\u2019t going to harm him, not in the way that he harmed my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice are looking for this man in connection with a fatal shooting inside a Hell’s Kitchen 7-Eleven on Feb. 12. (NYPD)<\/p>\n

Jackson leaves behind two sons, a daughter, two brothers and a sister. His brother described Jackson as \u201ca little mischievous and silly and funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grew up together. He was super likable. Everybody liked Mark,\u201d the brother added.\u00a0\u201cThis is a blow to our family. No one was expecting anything like this to happen to him. We all thought \u2014 at least I thought \u2014 I had more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss has been particularly hard on the victim\u2019s 24-year-old daughter, who calls Jackson her \u201chero\u201d and \u201cthe greatest dad a girl can ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was a wonderful person and he helped me with so much,\u201d the daughter told The News. \u201cHe made me feel like I can do anything and gave me strength when he didn\u2019t have it. He treated everyone with respect and he didn\u2019t deserve what happened to him. I need justice!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MarkVictim Mark Jackson (Obtained by New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Despite his hardships, Jackson \u201cnever gave up and put on a brave face,\u201d his daughter said.<\/p>\n

He always kept an \u201cupbeat attitude\u201d and got along with most everyone he crossed paths with, his brother added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t have any enemies, that I knew of anyway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In his spare time Jackson enjoyed rooting for the Knicks, working out and writing hip hop music.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe suspect, above, and the victim reportedly argued over who would get to hold open the store’s door for change. (NYPD)<\/p>\n

Police last week released clear surveillance footage<\/a> of the suspect and asked the public\u2019s help identifying him and tracking him down.<\/p>\n

The brother said he has faith that someone somewhere will recognize him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s too much gun violence in New York. It\u2019s absolutely ridiculous. This shouldn\u2019t have happened,\u201d the sibling said. \u201c[The suspect] knew to run, so he knows right from wrong. And he still chose to do what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man shot dead by a fellow panhandler in a clash over holding the door at a Hell\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,75,9,24,264,12,56,63,261,65,64,265],"class_list":{"0":"post-145085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-city","9":"tag-county","10":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-manhattan","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-york-county","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-nyc-crime","21":"tag-nyc-headlines","22":"tag-nyc-news","23":"tag-sub-county-region"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}