Elmwood grocer fatally shot in store

The Perlata Grocery appeared to be open for business earlier tonight, with its front door yawning open and a red-and-yellow sign glowing above.
But the usual neighborhood clientele were replaced by crime scene investigators and a murder scene in the Elmwood corner shop.
Domingo Rodriguez, the 53-year-old store owner, was gunned down during a robbery shortly before 7 p.m., said Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney.
Rodriguez was standing behind a plexiglass enclosed counter when the robber entered, Cooney said.
The triggerman opened the door to the secure area, shot Rodriguez in the chest, then stole about $2,000 from the owner's pocket.
Investigators said the gunman darted out of the store, at 66th Street and Guyer Avenue, and fled in an unknown direction.
Rodriguez died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 7:42 p.m., Cooney said.
Rodriguez's wife, who was in the store at the time of the shooting, was unharmed. The store, which Rodriguez recently opened, had no working security cameras, Cooney said.
"I can't believe they killed this man," said Nicole Smith, a nearby resident. "What's going on in this neighborhood?" Another resident who walked up to the scene described Rodriguez as a "big guy with a beard who was always happy." Others said Rodriguez sometimes let his young daughter work the store's cash register. Rodriguez's murder was one of three today. Police said a 25-year-old man was shot to death while sitting in a car near 64th and Callowhill streets in West Philly about 11 a.m. Another man was gunned down near 4th and Norris Streets in North Philly shortly after 7:45 p.m.