By Virginia Valerio

Muhammad Camera recently reopened BNC General Merchandise, the store on 104th street and Amsterdam Avenue where his son Bubacarr was shot and killed on June 18. Three men face federal charges in connection with his murder. Still deep in grief, he spoke with us about his son and his plans for the future.

“We closed about 5 weeks ago, right after the incident, and we re-opened last week. We were behind in payments, so we needed to open the store to make money, especially because how else am I supposed to help my family and my grandson [Bubacarr’s son who currently lives in Gambia.] This incident changed our lives forever- I cry everyday, I think about my son everyday, I don’t want to open the store but I have to to cover expenses.”

Muhammad is thinking of closing BNC, because “I want to be away from where they murdered my son.” Muhammad stated that the neighborhood loves them and has asked that they remain open but emotional reasons are pushing him to want to close the store.

“I know the neighbors are nice, I took a picture of the candles and flowers that the neighborhood left here. People have come from all over to send their condolences” Muhammad showed gratitude for all the neighborhood support stating that “the neighborhood is great, I never imagined so many nice people here.”

Muhammad and his family currently live in the Bronx and commute to the store daily. Bubacarr’s wife and son (who is about 2 years old) live in Gambia.

Muhammad, known by his nickname Bengaly in the neighborhood, took over the BNC store in 2013 from his best friend who opened the store around 10 to 15 years ago. Bubacarr (pictured at left) started working at BNC store last year and according to Muhammad, drove business up due to his personality. “Bubacarr was a great businessman — everybody loved him. He made sure to bring in items that people were looking for. He was a really good, religious person, very nice guy. He was so kind.” As Muhammad reminisced about his son’s personality, he stated “I cry throughout the night and I ask myself how can such a good person go like this, how can they take his life for nothing?”

We started to discuss the three men who allegedly killed his son. “The men stole some money. They came to rob and kill. They stole the cameras from within the store so it is unclear what exactly they did while within the store.” Although the men stole the BNC cameras, surrounding cameras were able to capture their faces. The neighborhood recognized their faces and started calling the cops with information. Muhammad stated “they apparently lived in the area at some point in their lives. People called the cops once pictures were broadcasted.”

Muhammad said Bubacarr was alone the day of the robbery. “It happened between noon and 1pm- at 12:20pm he was still alive because the neighbor spoke to him. At 12:57 I called him, he did not answer, I called him again, and he never called me back. I assumed he was praying because we pray around that time but when he never called me back, I knew something was wrong.” His daughter called him and stated that something happened at the store so Muhammad rushed to BNC to hear that his son was taken to the hospital. “I saw him in the hospital bed but the doctors said he would not make it.”

“A couple of days later when I returned to the store, there was so much blood to clean up.” Muhammad spoke to the store’s neighbor who found Bubacarr in the store. “The neighbor found my son lying down with a lot of blood. At that point, about 50% of his blood was gone. My life has since changed.”

When asked whether the store had any previous incidents, Muhammad stated “never, this was the first time we ever were bothered. No one tried to steal before.” Muhammad said that he was told that the men who killed his son had also robbed a store prior to robbing BNC. Muhammad and his family have gone to court and are waiting now for the hearing. “Hopefully justice can be served for this young boy,” he said. Bubacarr was 26 years old.

When asked about how is business now that the store re-opened, Muhammad stated “not good. My son knew how to manage this business so I don’t know what will happen. People come in to give their condolences, even someone from 95^th street stopped by because they heard what happened. But no one buys anything so business is not too great.”

We asked how locals could help the family.

Update: Muhammad said the family does not have a fund but that a woman from church has started collecting donations. You can donate at this site.

The funeral was held in Gambia — “they broadcasted the incident throughout the entire country so when we got to the airport, everyone was greeting us crying. People could not believe that this has happened to us.”

When asked about BNC’s store hours, Mohammad said “BNC now opens at 1 pm daily except Friday where we open at 3 pm. We are closed on Sunday.”