NYPD Looks for Four Potential Witnesses to Flatbush Ave. Shopkeep Murder

Police are looking for four people seen Friday evening in the vicinity and time frame of a homicide at a shop on Flatbush Avenue. 

Rahmatollah Vahidipour, 78, was shot and killed Friday, Nov. 16 at the She-She Boutique at 834 Flatbush Ave. in what is the latest of three homicides in four months committed with the same gun, police said.  

Vahidipour was last seen alive at approximately 4:30 p.m., and his body was discovered inside the shop at 7:11 p.m. He had been shot three times, police said.

The four unidentified individuals captured on video were near the shop between 6 p.m. and 6:52 p.m. These people are not considered suspects in the homicide at this time, but detectives want to question them about what they may have observed when they were in that area. The four individuals' images were captured on cameras in the nearby area. 

A white man's image was captured just after 6 p.m. He was seen walking on Flatbush Avenue between Caton Avenue and Martense Street while carrying a duffle bag.

The image of a black woman with glasses and a neck scarf was also captured just after 6 p.m. She was seen walking on Flatbush Avenue between Caton Avenue and Martense Street. 

A black man's image was captured at 6:52 p.m. He was running on Flatbush Avenue between Linden Boulevard and Church Avenue. 

A black woman's image was also captured at 6:52 p.m., seen wearing a head scarf and running down Flatbush Avenue between Linden Boulevard and Church Avenue. The video shows the woman running right behind the man described above as she took off her green jacket, which was found in a nearby garbage can. 

Police said ballistic tests confirm that the gun used in the murder of Vahidipour was the same .22 caliber that was used in the shooting deaths on July 6 and Aug. 2 in the 68th and 62nd Precincts. The .22 caliber shell casings recovered at the crime scene Friday were a positive match to those recovered at the two other crime scenes this past summer, police said. 

Police said that while evidence has not been recovered at this time to indicate bias crime, personnel from the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force were added Sunday for their expertise to a group of detectives investigating the three homicides.

Rewards of $22,000 in each of the homicides are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Anyone with information about them may call the Crime Stoppers hotline in confidence at 1-800-577 -TIPS.