Friends mourn slain owner of South Richmond market
DEAN HOFFMEYER/TIMES-DISPATCH
Leon Fletcher signs a posted dedicated to Ashraf M. Alatiyat, who was fatally shot Tuesday at his South Richmond convenience store.
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INTERACTIVE: Convenience store shootings since 2002
Safety tips for businesses
•Make sure all outside entrances and inside security doors have deadbolt locks. If you use padlocks, they should be made of steel and kept locked at all times. Remember to remove serial numbers from your locks, to prevent unauthorized keys from being made.
•Windows should have secure locks and burglar-resistant glass. Consider installing metal grates on all your windows except the display window.
•Remove all expensive items from your window displays at night and make sure you can see easily into your business after closing. Move valuable merchandise away from the door and windows to prevent "smash-and-grab" thefts.
•Check the parking lot for good lighting and unobstructed views.
•Light the inside and outside of your business, especially around doors, windows, skylights or other entry points. Consider installing covers over exterior lights and power sources to deter tampering.
•Install locking gates and eliminate possible hiding places, such as trees, shrubbery, stairwells and alleys.
•Make sure your entire sales floor can be viewed easily. Eliminate any blind spots that may hide a robbery in progress. Keep displays neat, and place small and valuable objects in cabinets. Ensure that your staff is familiar with all the merchandise in the store.
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A co-owner of a South Richmond convenience store was found shot to death after a robbery, again underscoring the potential dangers of working in such small retail businesses.
Police said Ashraf M. Alatiyat, 30, was declared dead at the scene of the shooting late Tuesday night at the Come and Go Food Market in the 2400 block of Jefferson Davis Highway.
It was the eighth time in less than eight years that the robbery or attempted robbery of a small business in the Richmond area ended with a fatal shooting.
Richmond police said the lone suspect in Alatiyat's slaying was a black male, 6 feet 1 inch tall, wearing a green poncho, black trousers, gold glasses and a floppy white fishing hat. The suspect appeared to be in his mid-20s with a slight beard and weighs about 170 pounds.
Capt. Harvey Powers said police, who had a grainy security-camera photo of the man, were able to obtain a detailed description of the person because there were witnesses in the store, which was open for business at the time of the 10:38 p.m. shooting.
The store is in a small strip mall called the Marketplace at Jefferson Trace.
Customers and friends gathered outside the store yesterday evening, paying their respects by signing a poster with "Missing you Alex!!" written across it. Alatiyat was known in the neighborhood as Alex.
Friends said he had two older brothers and that he would cut his customers a break when they were low on money.
"He was flirtatious with the women," said Mercedes Braxton, 19.
"Very flirtatious," said Braxton's mother, Paulette Braxton, recalling how Alatiyat would joke he was going to marry her and would rub women's hands as he took their money in the store.
Ian Cooper, 36, said that when his mother got sick last year and he thought she would die, Alatiyat assured him she would be OK. "He prayed for her," Cooper said, and she still is alive.
Hugo Bradby, who runs Noah's T-shirt Shop next door to the Come and Go, also praised Alatiyat. Despite Alatiyat's violent death, Bradby said he was not worried about his store.
"I'm a Christian," Bradby said. "I love Jesus Christ. I pray over my store every morning."
The neighborhood is part of the police department's Sector 213, which was cited in 2007 for leading all sectors in the city with a 35 percent drop in major crime from the previous year.
It's an area dominated by warehouses, convenience stores, used-car dealerships -- and police.
"With all the police presence around here, I'm surprised this happened," said the owner of a nearby convenience store, who spoke on the condition that he and his store not be identified.
The man, who said he has owned his store for almost two years, said marked Richmond police cruisers frequently patrol Jefferson Davis Highway.
"I had heard that they used to have problems in this area," the store owner said, "but honestly, I've never had a problem here. That's why it was a shock when I heard what happened."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.
Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or
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Reader Reactions
dee65—there are more comments about the shooting of the minature dachshund by a policeman than the shooting of the convenience store owner by a criminal because the former story is unusual and absurd, while sadly, the latter story is not. It’s a mistake to draw any conclusions about the “sad state of society” or the relative importance of anyone’s life based on that fact.
I was a regular customer of Mr. Alex’s store. He was a very nice man and this tragedy has broken my heart. Like the article states he was “very flirtatious” with the women customers and I, too, he “was going to marry.“ I pray for his family and hope that the coward behind this is soon captured and dealt with.
I’d never build a business in an area like this. Why don’t the local “moderates” take control of this situation?
Contrary to what some of you have said, you DO have the right to defend your life with lethal force in the state of VA. You are obligated to make an attempt to escape the threat if possible, but in the case of most convenience store robberies, the clerk does not have a clear escape route from behind the counter. And thus he would have the right to use lethal force if he felt his life was in danger.
You cannot defend property or even the life of someone else with lethal force, but if someone is pointing a gun at you(or brandishing a knife, screwdriver, baseball bat, etc.) and they are less than 7 yards away from you, you are well within your rights to shoot them. 7 yards is the distanced used to determine whether lethal force is avoidable or not because the average human can run 7 yards in 1 second. It’s part of the force continuum(look it up). If someone is 10 yards away from you and threatening you with a knife, you must make an attempt to escape before resorting to lethal force. This is why many shooting ranges have lines at 7, 10, 15, and 25 yards.
I would reccomend anyone considering purchasing a gun for self defense purposes take a conceal and carry class to learn the legalities of using a firearm in VA. This is a sad story though and my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
123456.. I feel bad for this store owner, his family and friends too. I would hope a video would prove self defense but sadly, I have seen some pretty pathetic court outcomes. Also, I was told by police that I was not allowed to defend myself from my husband (who I am now divorcing due to this). I was to call the police. How do you call the police when someone is beating on you or shooting at you?
Its a sad state of a society who is more outraged at the shooting death of a dog (40+ comments) than the shooting death of a human being ( 9 comments). Some suggest its the police’s fault, how is that? Did they out the gun in the suspects hand and make him pull the trigger? Did they put the idea in his head to rob this store? NO! In most cases the victim doesn’t have a chance to react to gun being pointed at them and even if this store owner had been armed he may still have gotten killed.
My sincere condolences to the family and hope that they keep the business going to show these cowards that they are not in control.
Video Documenting Lance Thomas, LA store owner who survived numerous Robberies at gunpoint. Very informative and similar to this story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKVAy0hb7I4
I agree wholeheartedly about this not being a race issue. This was a case of someone wanting something that didn’t belong to them and not giving a rats patootie who got hurt in the process. I feel certain that the actions of this individual would have been the same had the clerk been purple with pink polka dots. Sometimes things are truly as simple as right and wrong. My heart goes out to the family of the victim who was simply trying to make a living doing a honest days work.
The business’s in these high crime areas should lock up just as soom as the sun goes down. they should do this no matter if it is 9:30 or 5:00. Take away the source of the money and the crime will go away. If the good people in the neighborhood need these services after dark then let them rise up against the crimminal element. The crooks can not survive an assault from a group of concerned citizens. Take back your neighborhoods of lose these much needed services.
samy…I believe as with the case for most convenient store robberies…with the camera catching everything, had the victim had a gun and shot the thug, he could have easily proved self defense, by simply showing the cops the video of the attempted robbery.
I feel terrible for the victim and his family. I think each and every employee of all late night stores should be trained and licensed to carry a gun. Perhaps then these worthless thugs would think twice about holding up stores and killing innocent people.
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