{"id":211821,"date":"2026-04-27T22:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/211821\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T22:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:16:14","slug":"slain-nyc-deli-worker-voiced-fear-of-spiking-violence-year-before-he-was-shot-outside-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/211821\/","title":{"rendered":"Slain NYC deli worker voiced fear of spiking violence year before he was shot outside store"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Big Apple deli worker who was shot and killed while at work<\/a> had expressed fears of falling victim to the rampant violence that was plaguing small businesses last year.<\/p>\n

Abdul Saleh, 28, became the latest victim of that bloodshed over the weekend during a late-night scuffle that spilled out of his family-run Alphabet City store.<\/p>\n

Abdul Saleh, a worker at Sal\u2019s Deli and Grocery in Alphabet City said he was worried about violence last year. WABC<\/p>\n

Abdul Saleh was killed Saturday during a scuffle outside Sal\u2019s Deli and Grocery in Alphabet City. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post<\/p>\n

Police sources said a second man who was wounded in the shooting may be a suspect but has not been charged. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post<\/p>\n

His tragic death came nearly a year after an interview he gave to WABC-TV News <\/a>in a report about \u201cpanic buttons\u201d for bodega workers to help protect them from armed and dangerous street thugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople get shot, killed,\u201d Saleh told the local station in May 2025. \u201cSometimes you get robbed and the police never respond quick, come three or four hours late.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interview came as the United Bodega Association business group announced a $1.6 million program to install panic buttons<\/a> at 500 city stores amid a spate of violent crimes at delis and bodegas, including a series of fatal incidents in The Bronx earlier that year.<\/p>\n

The buttons would bypass the traditional 911 system and alert NYPD central command directly.<\/p>\n

A memorial for Abdul Saleh outside Sal\u2019s Deli and Grocery in Manhattan on April 27, 2026. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

Mia Safanda (right) and Vito DiTomaso placing a sign and photos of Saleh at the memorial. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

It is not known if there was a panic button at Sal\u2019s Deli and Grocery, at East 13th Street and Avenue B, where Saleh \u2014 a father of two young children \u2014 was working when a dispute erupted shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Saturday and spilled out onto the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

The scuffle turned deadly when someone fired off shots, striking the bodega clerk in the torso and mortally wounding him. <\/p>\n

Law enforcement sources told The Post that the alleged gunman, also 28, was wounded when one of the bullets ricocheted and struck him. <\/p>\n

Carmen Feliciano (left) being comforted by Mia Safanda as they pay their respects to Saleh. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

A loved one of Saleh placing flowers at the memorial. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

He was taken to a hospital with non-fatal injuries. <\/p>\n

Police have not filed charges in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Big Apple deli worker who was shot and killed while at work had expressed fears of falling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68399,275,303,7624,57,238,9,56,63,65,64,3980,58],"class_list":["post-211821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-alphabet-city","tag-bodega","tag-crime","tag-east-village","tag-metro","tag-murders","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-shootings","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211821","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=211821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}