Police seek clues in three murders with same gun

NEW YORK — Police are searching for any further links in the deaths of three New York City shopkeepers who were shot by the same gun.

All three victims were of Middle Eastern descent. Their stores are within an eightkilometre radius, and none of them have surveillance cameras.

The latest shooting death came Friday, when 78-year-old Rahmatollah Vahidipour was killed at his store, She She, in Brooklyn’s Flatbush section. He suffered gunshot wounds to the head and torso, police said.

The New York Times reported the police thought Vahidipour was originally from Iran – and was Jewish.

Police said the same gun was used in the deaths of two other Brooklyn shopkeepers over the summer.

On July 6, clothing store owner Mohamed Gebeli was killed inside Valentino Fashion in Bay Ridge.

On Aug. 2, Isaac Kadare was found dead at his Amazing 99 Cents Deal shop in Bensonhurst. Gebeli and Kadare were both born in Egypt, the Times reported.

Authorities have said that ballistics evidence connected the weapon used in the first two deaths. Police say they don’t know the motive behind any of the killings.

A call on Sunday to Vahidipour’s home in Great Neck wasn’t answered.