Workers in Brooklyn and the Bronx are reassessing late-night safety as police search for a suspect linked to both attacks.
NEW YORK — Two fatal shootings at neighborhood businesses have shaken workers in Brooklyn and the Bronx, prompting renewed concern about late-night safety as police continue searching for a man they say is connected to both killings.
The shootings killed 44-year-old MD Yousuf at a Brownsville restaurant early Sunday and 33-year-old Tayvon Shuler at a Bronx deli early Tuesday, according to police and local reports. Another worker was wounded in the Brooklyn attack. The NYPD identified 31-year-old Jesus Acosta as the suspect being sought in both cases, and the FBI has offered up to $25,000 for information leading to his location and apprehension.
Yousuf was working at a restaurant on Rockaway Avenue when gunfire erupted shortly after midnight Sunday. Police said he suffered a fatal gunshot wound and another man was shot in the leg. The wounded man, Mohammed Rasel, told ABC7 New York that he survived the attack and remained frightened knowing the person police suspect had not been captured.
Friends and co-workers described Yousuf as an important part of the restaurant and of a family living across two countries. A store co-owner told Gothamist that Yousuf was a childhood friend from Bangladesh. Other reports said Yousuf had a wife and two daughters. The restaurant remained closed in the days after his death while those close to him mourned.
About two days later, police responded to another shooting inside 149 Grill & Deli on East 149th Street in the Bronx. Police said a gunman shot Shuler in the chest before going behind the counter, taking cash and fleeing. Shuler was taken to Lincoln Hospital and later died.
The killing quickly changed the scene outside the Bronx store. Friends gathered around a memorial containing candles, photographs and other tributes. Gothamist reported that people who knew Shuler remembered him as someone who cared about his neighborhood. His father also visited the memorial and spoke publicly about the family’s loss.
The violence has spread concern beyond the two businesses. Workers interviewed near the Brownsville restaurant said the shooting made them more cautious about staying open when streets become quiet late at night. That concern is particularly sharp for employees of small stores and restaurants that serve customers into the early morning hours, often with only a few workers inside.
The United Bodegas of America has renewed demands for additional protections following the shootings. The group increased a reward for information leading to an arrest to $10,000 and called for wider installation of panic buttons at bodegas. Its representatives have also pressed elected officials for changes involving illegal firearms and the ability of properly licensed business owners to protect themselves.
Those proposals have placed storefront security back into a broader city debate over how to protect workers without treating isolated acts of violence as representative of every neighborhood business. Recent police statistics cited in local reporting showed shootings were down year over year in the Bronx precinct where Shuler was killed, even as the two high-profile deaths created immediate fear among workers who spend long hours behind counters.
The investigation also remains focused on Acosta. Police say he is connected to both shootings and have circulated photographs and identifying information while searching for him. Authorities have not announced an arrest, and the allegations against him have not been proven in court.
For the businesses involved, the effects extend beyond the continuing manhunt. One storefront has been a gathering place for a memorial, while the other temporarily closed after losing a worker and seeing another wounded. As police and federal authorities continue their search, workers in both neighborhoods are confronting the same immediate question: how to keep neighborhood businesses operating while reducing the risks faced by people working late hours.
Author note: Last updated August 29, 2026.