Victim Identified in Deadly Store Robbery in Meriden

The family of a Meriden man shot and killed early Wednesday morning in a gas station robbery has confirmed he was the victim although police are not releasing the victim's name.

Ibrahim Ghazal was gunned down at the Citgo station at 271 East Main St. around 1:30 a.m.

According to police, an unidentified white man entered the gas station convenience store and pointed a handgun at the clerk working the cash register and demanded money.

A witness who was inside the store at the time of the robbery told police that once the man received an undisclosed amount of money he shot the clerk in the chest and then ran out of the store.

Ghazal, a Jordan native who lived at 6 Converse Circle, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police believe the shooter fled the scene on foot. Police released surveillance photos from inside the store and descrive the suspect as a white male, 5’9”-5’10,” with a husky build. He is 28-30 years old and has clean cut, dark hair. He is also described to have “bulging eyes” and was wearing a gray/black T-shirt with lettering on it, white or tan shorts, and black sneakers.

Business owners expressed shock Wednesday afternoon as police continued to investigate the shooting.

"This was a shock to me. It really is," said Julie, a salon owner whose business is directly across the street from the scene of the shooting.

"I've already had two people drive by and they got nervous and they canceled and said, 'We're going to come back tomorrow,'" she said.

Louis, a salesman who said he regularly visits many of the businesses in the area, wasn't aware of the shooting.

"It's scary that you can't even run a small business without somebody coming to try to kill you," he said. "Meriden is changing a lot, and it's not in a good way."

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call Det. Benoit at 203-630-6297.

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