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Admin / Pitt County Sheriff's Office
Images of the suspects captured on a surveillance camera at the convenience store where three employees were shot to death.
Law enforcers in a rural North Carolina community on Tuesday were engaged in an “all hands on deck” manhunt for three suspects who robbed an isolated convenience store and shot to death three young men working there, according to a report from NBC affiliate station WITN.
Victims at the Hustle Mart 3 on a sparsely populated county road in Farmville, N.C. were identified by the sheriff’s office as Nabil Nasser Saeed Al’mogannahi , 26, Gaber Alawi, 24 and Mokbel (Sam) Mohamed Almujanhi, 16.
One of the victims was found dead on the scene and the other two later died at a hospital, the local Daily Reflector newspaper reported Tuesday.
The three employees, including the store owner’s teenage son and two cousins, were closing the store when three men with handguns burst in and demanded money, the newspaper reported.
After taking an undisclosed amount of cash and a pack of cigarettes, the gunmen shot all three employees, even though they offered no resistance, officials quoted by WITN said. A customer who entered the store at about 10 p.m. found the victims and called 911, WITN reported.
Pitts County sheriff Neil Elks said his office has been “all hands on deck” since the shootings which took place, about 10 p.m. Sunday evening, WITN reported.
"We have been working this case as hard as we can since Sunday night," Elks told the station. "Our deputies have been canvassing the area, going door to door and following every lead that we have. These are dangerous men we are dealing with, and we are determined to catch them as fast as possible."
On Monday, the sheriff's office released photos of the suspects taken from the store's surveillance video, in an effort to generate tips. It also released a short clip of the video from the robbery, but not the very graphic portion that captured the murders, according to Christy Wallace, the sheriff's public information director.
The family and Crimestoppers have offered a $10,000 reward for tips leading to arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.
The sheriff's department has received a steady stream of tips since the images and a short portion of the surveillance video were made public, said Wallace.
"It's keeping the detectives adrenalin up and keeping them so encouraged," she said Tuesday evening, adding that some had hardly slept since Sunday. "They are still at work right now."
Farmville has a population of about 4,500 located and is located about 71 miles east of Raleigh, N.C.
"The people had been at this store for years," Wallace said of the family. "They were well known and loved by the community."
Students from Farmville Central High School, where the youngest victim was a 10th-grade student, held a candlelight vigil Monday night outside the store for Almujanhi, who told friends to call him Sam because they had difficulty pronouncing his name.
A funeral for the three victims, who were originally from Yemen, was held Tuesday Al-Masjid Islamic Center and Mosque in Greenville, N.C., the Daily Reflector reported.
"This is very hard," a spokesman for the family, Tony Muhssen, said during a news conference in Farmville on Tuesday, the Reflector reported. "We lost three. The family just can't understand."
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Every time I read a story like this I wonder what the hell happened. If there really was no resistance to the robbery, why kill the clerk? (I shot the clerk? WOAH!) My guess is that one of the three gunmen lost their cool and opened fire... but what keeps the other two from dropping dime on the shooter? If the two turn themselves in, explaining they did not intend to kill or have anything to do with the killing (I am speculating that is the case) then they would be looking at light sentences and a quick guilty verdict for the shooter. Come on you two... do the right thing.
Sheriff Elks put the call out for that in the beginning. One of the thugs seems to act more like a lookout and it seemed like he might not have realized what was going down. The public call for that guy to turn himself in came down yesterday.
Ban handguns.
Guns really need to go. This is getting out of hand.
i wish we could ban hand guns, but then only criminals and cops would have them. Not a good idea.
I saw all three enter the store in the video. He appears to me to be covering the door, prepared to kill anyone who happened on the scene.
My guess is these guys are already forbidden to own a firearm. To bad the clerk didn't have one.
Most likely reason for the shooting besides a complete lack of respect for anything other than themselves if even that, was the fact that one of them did a piss poor job of covering his face or realized that the victims recognized them. Either way terrible loss, senseless crime.
ALERT ALERT Time to march in NC, wake up JJ and AL, load the buses, alert the liberal media, OOPS MY BAD and other false alarm, White-Arabs killed by black men. Sorry.
Obama's new IF I HAD A SON.
http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/local/2012/04/02/10937889/sam-600x450.jpg
Yep everywhere my family and I go at all times, with in the law. I will not be an easy victim nor will my family.
The handgun is here and there is no putting that jin back in the bottle, it is time for America to understand that and live with it. Firearms have made us both more and less secure but on the whole IMO the right is a good right.
Trolling and and inciting ranting, the mark of a trouble maker.
This family is a wonderful family. I've stopped at this store numerous times and they always had smiles on their faces and made everyone feel welcome. The thugs that did this are the best argument for the death penalty out there. This family cooperated in every way and were still shot in cold blood. And yes, video clearly shows two of them wearing hoodies and masks to hide their identity.
When are we going to wake up as a nation and get rid of the culture that encourages and glorifies the "gangsta" life? Hoodies aren't evil or bad, but damn if they aren't being used as tools in criminal activity. Video doesn't lie. Wearing a hoodie isn't a crime, and it shouldn't be, but using one in a crime should be considered an aggravating factor because it's people like this that are the root cause of the argument over hoodies to start with.
Why in the hell are you bringing up hoodies?
Because hoodies were used as tools to help commit these crimes and have been the subject of much debate lately. Why not bring it up?
Maybe because 2 of the three MURDERS are wearing them during this.
They were probably wearing sunglasses too. Should we ban them? How about gloves? Baseball caps? Socks?
Actually David, all 3 of them were armed, there is video, and as soon as you put yourself in that situation whether or not you were the shooter, you become an accessory to murder, and get the murder charge as well! They will not plea the other 2, IF only one did the shooting!
What a horible tragedy...Hardly a day passes that we don't hear of such evil done to innocent people who haven't done anything wrong to provoke such attrociety done toward them.
Indeed, one human being can hold more demons then a herd of swine could, who went off of the clif to be drowned in the sea, after Jesus cast them out one one man, into the herd of swine. It's unbelieveable what's happening with human race in these thimes we're living in!
hand gun killers strike again
Let's make it as easy to get hand guns as it is to get a machine gun (i.e. let's make hand guns a class 3 weapon under the NFA)
http://www.remarcablearms.com/silencer.htm
Way too late for that. This country poisoned the well long ago.
The laws down here are going totally the other way. Pretty soon there will be no virtually no restrictions. My state (SC) is now trying to bring legal carry to bars and restaurants, you just can't drink but nothing says you can't just show up drunk. And that is already the case in many states. Anything the NRA wants they get down here. As if they were leading a "well regulated militia".
A reminder they were almost surely killed by a weapon that was legally purchased at one time. No need for Saturday night specials anymore.
But I also wonder if this wasn't a hate crime. No sense in taking these three lives. The initial crime was done then the killers escalated it all. Not much in that area. Not even big towns. What a chickensh-t act! No other way to say it.
This crime was a hate crime perpetrated by haters who hunt humans.
@davey-526272
Do you really think those 3 acquired their guns legally?
That's why making them a Class 3 weapon would be totally irrelevant. Sorry, but if you think it's hard to acquire a class 3 weapon you're sorely mistaken.
Well, how many people acquire machine guns illegally and then shoot up the place?
Sad to read these stories. All the best to the victims' families.
Let me guess!
"The family just can't understand." What's not 2 understand, welcome to Racist America.
Your on your own. R.I.P. young men, you're in a better place. Sad.
they must look like obama son
Can't wait to hear him "comment" on this young boy's death, and the OBVIOUS RACISM involved
Obama's other son
http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/local/2012/04/02/10937889/sam-600x450.jpg
Make your point!
Why did they have to shoot and kill these three young men? What was the point? No resistance as offered, the thieves had the money. What was the race of three victims? Was it racially motivated?
No even relatives have agreed it was not racially motivated but GREED motivated....Sammy had lots of friends of color his best freind is Africian American and he held a candle light vigil on Monday night
Lol they live in Farmville...
We also have a town called Morehead City....
I wonder if Louis Farrakhan will march to protest the murder of three Muslims by three hodlums.
What does Sharpton and Jackson have to say about these 3 hoodies. They looked pretty black to me. They look young too...maybe 17.
Rest in Peace Nabil Nasser Saeed Al’mogannahi , Gaber Alawi and Mokbel (Sam) Mohamed Almujanhi.
My condolences to the families, friends and neighbors of the victims.
May the perpetrators of this crime be found and treated like the low life scum they are.
MSNBC... Continuing on your anti-gun agenda with a vengance now. As this incident occured on Sunday and you're reporting it on a Tuesday. You're truly showing your true colors.
I gather being humiliated by having been caught MANIPULATING 911 recordings to reinforce your own agenda and perception wasn't enough. Now you need to further fan the flames of your anti-gun agenda and promote more racial tensions in this country.
MSNBC.... seriously, how low can you go???
ALL of your credibility has been destroyed. It was tenuous at best before, but now, it is entirely crushed.
Can we talk about the big BLACK elephant sitting in the room???? They were black....hey Black Panthers, want to comment on this??? Spineless cowards....they want to concentrate on Zimmerman...it's ok when blacks kill someone of another race. I would like to see every black person go back to Africa and apply for citizenship. That way we can weed out the bad ones...you know, pimps, crack dealers, hos, welfare teat suckers...it's a long list. Not many would get back into the USA. And that would be a good thing as far as i am concerned. Watched Cops last night....every one of the criminals was black! Hmmmm
What a bunch of worthless pos, I too am tired of the stupid killings. Death penalty case for sure for these scumbags.
I'd prefer that it be a PUBLIC execution... and a very slow and painful execution.
I live in New Bern, NC and Farmville is very close. I find it a bit odd that the first day the owners SON SAMMY starts working at his father's store it gets robbed by 3 guys who seem to be around the same age as Sammy. I think the Police should look at any known aquantances of Sammy's that have recently or will graduate high school this year. All the young men appear to be under 21 to me.....Such a shame 6 lives total will be distroyed over greed. Such a terrible shame to waste your life over some smokes and a few hundrad dollars and to take 3 lives for that amount is appalling. My heart goes out to his father it was his ONLY child. RIP Young Men...
Where is Al not so SHARPton and Jesse JERKSOn now. people should be outraged. Not a word from so called leaders.
The sheriff in this case deserves a lot of respect for getting these pieces of %^#@#@^ out of society and where they belong behind bars
ROBBOB muslums are not white. They hate whites just like everybody that isn't white.
I have only met one white person in my whole life, pink eyes very white hair.
There is only one race the Human Race, and until we all see it none of will.
And this is EXACTLY why we need the death penalty in every state. These three should be exported to Yeman where the family is from. I believe they know how to deal with scum like this and it doesn't take 10 year and a million dollars to get the proper end result. My heart goes out to that poor 16 year old at the cash register. You can just catch a glimpse of the fear on his face in the surveillance video, he's terrified. These three dirt bags aren't even human, they deserve no sympathy from any justice system.