A suspect in the murder of a Bangladeshi man, the father of two high school students who survived the shooting in Parkland, Florida, has turned himself in to police, according to US media reports.
The 19-year-old was identified as Tyrone Fields Jr., reports bdnews24.com citing Fox News.
Security footage released by police show the suspect walking into a North Lauderdale store belonging to Ayub Ali, 61, threatening him with a gun, taking money from the register and leaving. Police say he returned a short while later and shot Ali.
The motive for the suspect’s return is not yet known.
Ali was taken to a nearby medical centre where he was declared dead.
According to Fox News, Ali was an immigrant from Bangladesh and had been in the US for 20 years. A spokesman for the family said he had worked hard to save up money for his convenience store.
Ali leaves behind a wife and four children. Two of the children, 17-year-old Elama and 15-year-old Rahat were at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the time of the massacre that left 17 students and staff dead and 17 wounded, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
According to Elama, her father had moved their family to Parkland in 2017 because of the school.
“I didn’t want to move here,” she told CNN. “But he told us, ‘We are only moving because the school is amazing.’”
Mirza Mustaque, a family friend, told the New York Times the children are shocked by the death of their father.
“Sometimes they express it by crying, sometimes they are quiet,” he said. “”We are trying to talk to them, and bring some kids to their home so they can talk, so they don’t feel lonely.”
Ali was a nice man, a hard worker and very popular in the Bangladeshi community, Ali’s friend Kazi Hayder told the Sun Sentinel.
Hayder had been helping Ali with the store and was supposed to relieve him later that day.
Funeral services for Ali were held on Friday at the Muslim Cemetery of South Florida.