ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Friends and customers of a popular convenience store owner in northeast Atlanta's Virginia-Highland Community are stunned to learn that he was shot and killed late Thursday after a struggle with an apparent robber.
Sgt. Robert Porter said officers responded to the ATL Food Mart on Barnett Street at 10:16 p.m. and found a man lying in the store parking lot barely conscious.
"He was shot one time in the chest," Porter said.
The victim, whom the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office identified as Mushtaq "Mike" Moloo, 46, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Rita Myers wiped away tears Friday morning as she looked at the flowers and notes customers had left at the door of his Virginia-Highland convenience store. She had known Mike, a native of Pakistan, for 16 years.
"He went back to Pakistan and got married, brought his wife over here, brought his father over here, brought his nephew over here," Myers said. "And he's got three kids."
"All he cared about was his kids," Myers said as she fought back tears. "He just worked all the time for those kids. He's got a baby girl that's just seven months old who's the apple of his eye."
At the scene, police found a baseball bat, which they think Moloo used as he tried to fend off the robber.
"He knew something like that could happen, but he had the bat in case he needed to protect himself."
Myers said she visited Mike's wife early Friday morning.
"They're just really distressed. It's really sad, because they depend on him for everything. He's like the pillar of the family. He just does so much for them."
Porter said the shooter fled the scene on foot, but police haven't released a description of the shooter.
Check back with www.CBSAtlanta.com for updates.
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