A father of two Parkland, Florida school shooting survivors was tragically shot and killed during a convenience store robbery.
NPR reports that 61-year-old Ayub Ali was was restocking the shelves at the Aunt Molly’s Food Store in North Lauderdale, Florida on Tuesday, when an armed man came in around 12:40 p.m. ET, while sauntering up and down the aisles.
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Surveillance footage from the store reportedly shows the man forcing Ali to empty the cash register at gunpoint and then leaving the store. He allegedly returned soon after and shot Ali, who was pronounced dead at the Broward Health Medical Center.
Who is this person? Around 12:40 p.m. July 17, our homicide detectives say he robbed and killed Ayub Ali at Aunt Molly’s Food Store in North Lauderdale. pic.twitter.com/2VDoztwWnP
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) July 19, 2018
As mentioned, Ali’s two oldest children are students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and both survived the shooting that took place there on Valentine’s Day.
Ali also leaves behind his wife, as well as a 22-month-old son and a child entering the first grade.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has reached out to the public in the hopes that someone will recognize the suspected shooter from the surveillance footage.
They tweeted out photos of him and asked if anyone knows who the suspect is. While no one on social media has expressed confirmation of the man’s identity, the unfortunate story has instigated many opinions from Twitter users.
Stick a fork in him he’s done, those pictures are very clear all the cops need is a name. What an idot, all the heartache he has caused for the victims family and his own, he will be spending the rest of his life in jail the clerk’s kid fatherless and his wife a widow for $500.
— andy macaroon (@yakacm) July 20, 2018
“Find this heartless man! Ayub is like my uncle. He was a family man,” tweeted someone claiming to be Ali’s relative. “This criminal ruined this familys happiness and the whole communitys as well. Today lots of news spread about this horrible act. Hope you guys can find this criminal soon,else he might take someone else’s life.”
Pictures are very clear. If the police want to catch this man it shouldn’t be too hard. You may not care that Ayub Ali died, but if this man will kill one he will certainly not hesitate to kill again. Perhaps his next victim will be someone you love… Think about it.
— E Smith (@emsmith51) July 20, 2018
At this time, no funeral or memorial arrangements for Ali appear to have been announced.
