New York police are searching for a man who shot and killed a Burger King employee during an early morning robbery on Sunday in East Harlem.
Police say the man, dressed in black, entered the fast food restaurant at East 116th Street and Lexington Avenue brandishing a gun and demanding cash.
During the robbery, he shot 19-year-old Kristal Bayron-Nieves in the torso. Paramedics who responded to the scene took her to Metropolitan Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, WNYW reported.
🚨ADDITIONAL VIDEO: There is a CASH REWARD of up to $3,500 in this case. pic.twitter.com/U3Lqjb0TEf
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) January 9, 2022
According to the New York Daily News, the suspect also pistol whipped a customer and punched a manager in the face.
Investigators released surveillance footage showing the gunman and asked the public for help finding him.
New York Mayor Eric Adams went to the scene Sunday afternoon and later tweeted.
“A nineteen-year-old girl was shot and killed yesterday in East Harlem while doing her job,” he wrote. “Guns are destroying lives in our city.”
Bayron-Nieves had asked to be taken off the overnight shift at her job because she didn’t feel safe and was supposed to start a new shift on Friday, the Daily News said.
Police asked anyone with information to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted to the Crime Stoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
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[Featured image: Burger King suspect/New York Police Department]