Store owners now ‘relieved’
Man charged with shooting clerk
The arrest of the man accused of shooting a Boston convenience store clerk in the head has made local convenience store owners “more relieved than ever” after several tense weeks of not knowing if they would be next, a Dorchester store owner tells the Herald.
Stephon Samuel, 25, of Lynn, was charged on Friday in connection with the July 14 shooting of Tanjim Siam, 25, at M&R Convenience Store on Shawmut Avenue in Roxbury. Siam remains on life support at Boston Medical Center, and has no chance of survival, according to a close friend.
On the night of the shooting, Siam had listened to Samuel’s demands and given him cash from the register, prosecutors said. But then the accused robber took Siam into a different part of the store and tried to kill him, prosecutors allege.
“We’re definitely relieved that he’s finally in custody,” said Siam’s friend Humayun Morshed, who runs Rosario Grocery in Dorchester. “We’re more relieved than ever, and thank Boston Police for finding the man who did this.”
“The community has just been so scared, never knowing what was going to happen next,” added Morshed, secretary of the Boston Convenience Store Owners Association.
Samuel, already in custody on unrelated charges, was arrested on Friday at the Plymouth County House of Correction. Boston Police obtained an arrest warrant for Samuel after an investigation by the BPD homicide and forensic units in conjunction with the Brockton Police Department and the FBI Boston Violent Crimes Task Force.
Samuel has been charged with armed robbery by means of a firearm, armed assault with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and with being an armed career criminal.
“Justice needs to be served for this horrible incident,” Morshed said.
Doctors have told Siam’s parents that their son has no chance of survival, Morshed said.
Siam recently moved to the U.S. from Bangladesh and began working at the store four months ago.
“Today we got to tell Tanjim Siam’s family that we found the person that shot Tanjim and left him for dead,” Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement on Friday. “We continue to pray for Mr. Siam’s recovery as he remains in critical condition. My office will do everything to hold Mr. Samuel accountable for his violent disregard for life and the unimaginable pain he has caused Mr. Siam’s family.”
The coalition of owners of more than 100 Boston stores has started a GoFundMe page — titled Fundraising For Tanjim Siam — to help Siam’s family as he remains in the hospital.