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Chicago man killed in confrontation behind neighborhood market
By Ed Meyer
and Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writers
Published on Saturday, Oct 03, 2009
A Chicago man suspected in an attempted armed robbery was shot and killed Thursday night in what Akron police are calling a confrontation with the owner of a neighborhood market at Raymond and Campbell streets.
Akron Police Lt. Rick Edwards said the store owner, Ali Ahmed, 59, had closed for the night and was walking to his vehicle in the rear parking lot at about 7:30 when the suspect approached.
There was an exchange of gunfire — witnesses reported seven or eight shots — and both men were hit, Edwards said.
Ahmed was taken by ambulance to Akron General Medical Center with wounds that were not life threatening, Edwards said.
A hospital official declined Friday to release any details about Ahmed's condition.
Edwards, the department's spokesman, identified the robbery suspect as Timothy Grant, 29, of Chicago's west side. He said Grant died at 9:04 p.m. Thursday at Akron General from unspecified gunshot wounds.
According to police radio traffic moments after the shooting, one man was shot in the head and the other in the hand.
Grant's mother, Sharon Grant, 50, said in a phone interview from her Chicago residence that her son was visiting an aunt in Barberton — his second trip there in the past year — and that
she talked to him by phone about noon Thursday.
She said he asked to be wired some money for a bus ride back home and that she was preparing to do that when hospital officials called and said her son was deceased.
The shooting was reported at 7:49 p.m.
Within minutes, at least eight patrol cars, a police van and two emergency vehicles were parked near the corner store, the Raymond Food Mart, 908 Raymond St., on the city's near-west side.
Edwards said witnesses reported hearing a person yelling in the aftermath of the shooting and, possibly, a second robber running from the scene.
Responding officers recovered two handguns, Edwards said. Additional details about the guns were not available.
Edwards said the shooting remains under investigation.
He said he was not aware of any suspicion of wrongdoing by Ahmed.
There was a feeling of despair in the Raymond Street neighborhood Friday morning as neighbors worried about Ahmed's welfare.
Several neighbors said he is a respected, hard-working businessman who did favors for many by cashing their checks and keeping his store stocked with family essentials.
Erick Williams, 46, a construction worker who lives in the neighborhood, said he awoke to news that it was Ahmed who had died in the shooting.
''He's a real good guy and the people in the neighborhood really depend upon him. He's open from morning till night every day of the year and we need him,'' Williams said.
''Don't get me wrong. I'm not happy anybody was killed. But I'm sure glad it wasn't Ali who got killed,'' he said ''He's in there all day trying to make an honest living for his family. When you're robbing somebody, you have to take the consequences.''
Ocie Priester, a 60-year-old who does interior remodeling, said Ahmed was aware of the dangers of owning such a store and took measures to protect himself.
Ahmed had a .44-caliber handgun, he said, and showed it to him once.
''He told me he'd been robbed before and he had to be ready for the next one,'' Priester said. ''That guy wasn't trying to rob Ali with no butter knife.''
Priester said he has known Ahmed as a respected businessman for at least 20 years.
He said Ahmed owned another store several blocks away, but the building was torn down about five years ago and Ahmed moved to his current location.
''Everybody really likes Ali, and we just call the store Ali's. We don't know it as anything else,'' Priester said.
''It's amazing how this little store keeps the neighborhood going. It's got all the things you need to get through the day — a gallon of milk, cigarettes and stuff for the kids.
''He's a good guy to everybody. I hate that the guy got killed,'' Priester added, ''but when you have that kind of life you're taking chances. If the shoe was on the other foot and Ali was dead, a lot of people would be affected.''
Summit County court records show Barberton police had a complaint about Grant involving a fugitive warrant from Illinois in March 2008.
Grant's mother said he lived with her and his older brother on the second floor of a Chicago two-flat apartment. He graduated from Kaskaskia College, a community college near Centralia in south central Illinois, with a degree in construction management in 2005, she said.
''Nobody in this tragedy can say anything bad about him because he was loved by everybody,'' Sharon Grant said.
He was divorced, she said, and had a son, now 9 years old, with a former wife.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com. Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
Ohio.com and the Akron Beacon Journal disable commenting on stories when we believe the feature will be used excessively for anonymous postings that are personal attacks, abusive or hateful. This is one such story.
A Chicago man suspected in an attempted armed robbery was shot and killed Thursday night in what Akron police are calling a confrontation with the owner of a neighborhood market at Raymond and Campbell streets.
Get the full article here.
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