Bodega owner’s final moments 'sheer terror'

The murder scene inside Los Ingenitos, a small grocery store in North Philadelphia, was particularly gruesome and bloody, police said.

And the death of 60-year-old owner Felix Rodriguez "sheer terror," one detective put it.

Police Sunday continued to search for three suspects in what they believe was a planned robbery that took a particularly horrific turn about 8 p.m. Saturday.

"The 60-year-old merchant was viciously taken away from his family - one of these crimes in this city that cannot go unpunished or forgotten," Detective Philip Nordo said.

Nordo said Rodriguez was shot six times - including in the chest, neck, face and groin - while he stood behind the cash register inside the store on North Ninth Street at York Road.

"This man's last remaining moments on Earth were sheer terror," Nordo said.

An employee who had been held at gunpoint in the back of the store during the shooting attempted to chase after the three alleged robbers as they fled the store - reportedly without any cash, Nordo said.

After a short chase, the employee then returned to the bodega to find his boss lying on the floor in a pool of blood. The employee, whose identity Nordo did not disclose, told police that Rodriguez uttered three final words: "Those damn delinquents."

Police said the store had been robbed a number of times in the past and that Rodriguez had planned to close down in a few months, as his wife and children had urged him to do.

In mourning and outrage, about 100 neighbors and relatives of Rodriguez gathered outside Los Ingenitos until early Sunday morning.

Police are reviewing surveillance tapes. They described the suspects as three black males, ages 18 to 21. Police said they think all three were familiar with the store and its routine.

Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to call the Homicide division at 215-686-3334.