Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Bodega Worker Killed by Man Who Grabbed Officer's Gun to be Buried in Mali

By Trevor Kapp | August 10, 2016 4:40pm | Updated on August 11, 2016 8:27am
 The body of Wali Camara will be returned to his native Mali, relatives said.
The body of Wali Camara will be returned to his native Mali, relatives said.
View Full Caption
PicMonkey; DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

THE BRONX — The body of a bodega worker shot dead by a man who grabbed a police officer's gun outside the shop will be sent back to his native Mali for burial, relatives said Wednesday.

“We’re waiting for the city to give the body to send it back,” Wali Camara’s uncle, Mamadou Doucoura, 57, told DNAinfo.

“His mom wants to see him. She hasn’t seen him in 23 years.”

Camara, 49, was fatally shot by Efrain Guzman, 30, after Guzman grabbed a police officer’s gun outside of N&A Foods on East 198th Street and Valentine Avenue on Tuesday about 1 a.m., police said.

The chaos began when Camara tossed Guzman out of the bodega after he was pestering customers and trying to sell phone chargers.

Guzman, who has eight prior arrests, went across the street to A&M Bodega but Camara followed, police and witnesses said.

A deli worker flagged down two nearby NYPD officers who then intervened and pulled Guzman out of the store, but he grabbed one of the officer’s weapons and pulled its trigger, mortally wounding Camara before being shot by police, the NYPD said.

Camara was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he died.

Guzman, of Morris Heights, was also taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

Police charged Guzman with murder, attempted murder of a police officer, robbery, assault, criminal possession of a firearm, menacing a police officer and reckless endangerment, NYPD officials said Wednesday.

It's unclear exactly when the Medical Examiner's Office will release Camara's body.

Friends and relatives remembered Camara as a dedicated worker who frequently sent money back to his mother in Mali and his son, who’s a medical school student in Paris.

“This guy would give his last 50 cents to anyone,” said Camara’s former brother-in-law, Mody Doucoure.

“He was always there for everyone. He was a very good family man.”