Store clerk shot, killed had only worked there one week

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Hundreds gathered outside a local mosque Wednesday afternoon to mourn the loss of a beloved store clerk.

Muhammad Saeed was shot and killed Tuesday while working at a south Fulton County Shell station.

He had only been working at the job for one week when two armed men stormed into the store.

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Detectives working the case say it only took minutes for the thieves to open fire before taking off with the cash register drawer. The gunmen are still on the run.

“It’s very hard to understand what was going through their minds that a life so precious, a gift from God to us, that you can just pull a trigger,” family friend Mohammad Butt said.

Saeed’s father and siblings were visibly distraught as the group said their final death prayer around his body Wednesday.

Butt described Saeed as a kind, sweet and hardworking young man who would do anything for his family.

“He was very compassionate, and, of course, very sweet,” Butt told Channel 2's Nefertiti Jáquez.

He says Saeed moved to Atlanta from Pakistan five months ago with his family in search of the American dream.

When his father fell ill, he took the job at the Shell station in order to make more money to help provide for his family, Butt said.

“That’s love for the family that you cannot change,” Butt said.

Saeed’s neighbors were speechless when they found out what had happened to him.

“(He was) a very nice guy. He was like my little buddy. For him to die tragically like this, he will be missed,” Lester DeBell said.

DeBell says he was hanging out with Saeed the night before he was killed.

“He was a good guy,” DeBell said. “His dream was to try to get a gas station of his own.”

The family says they just want closure, and police are working to give that to them.

The family plans to ship Saeed’s body to Pakistan and then take it on a three-hour drive to the village where he was born.

If you have any information about the crime, call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.

Cox Media Group