NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Someone shot and killed a man closing the Smoke Depot on Porter Road in East Nashville. Police are still looking for a person of interest captured on video tape.
On Wednesday April 7, Usama Shahata was closing the doors to the Smoke Depot just after 10 p.m. A few minutes later shots rang out and Shahata was dead, the apparent victim of a robbery.
Surveillance video captured Shahata just moments before he was killed.
"It appears from the video that he looked up possibly saw someone he recognized, possibly heard something at the corner of the building," said Jeannine Hale with the Metro Nashville Police Department.
His car was parked near the corner of the business, and Shahata started walking toward the car.
"Approximately just a short time after that we hear gunshots," said Hale.
Shahata was a new employee. He'd only been at the Smoke Depot a couple of weeks, and he'd only closed the store four times.
The surveillance cameras also captured a man who tried to enter the store just before it closed, and police want to talk to him.
"Not that we think he's a suspect or anything, but he may have been a witness to any other cars or people who were in this area," said Hale.
Police said the killer fired two shots. They said the nearby Porter Road and Greenwood Avenue intersection is busy, so someone else may have seen something.
If you have information about the murder of Usama Shahata call Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.
Shahata is survived by a wife and two small children.
