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By:
CAROL ROBINSON | |||||||||
| Posted:
Jun,05-2017 14:30:18
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A Birmingham store clerk of Kenyan descent was shot to death in a Saturday night holdup.
The shooting happened about 11:30 p.m. at the Citgo in the 9800 block of Parkway East. Police identified the victim as 29-year-year old Mike Ngangi, also known as Mike Mulwa.
Birmingham police Sgt. Bryan Shelton said East Precinct officers were dispatched to the store on a robbery alarm. When they arrived, they found two people consoling Ngangi, who had been shot one time.
Ngangi was taken to UAB Hospital where he underwent surgery. He died about 4:30 a.m. Sunday at the hospital.
Shelton said it appears robbery was the motive. "Investigators are sure an altercation took place inside the location, and at some point the victim was shot,"' Shelton said. The victim was working at the location.
A clerk wasshot at the same Citgo in December, but survived.In that incident, the victim was shot with a handgun in the torso area around 9 p.m. Ngangi was working that night as well, and witnessed the shooting.
Police said the suspect, a black male, ran from the scene on foot. Police said the victim had been transported to UAB hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
"People should be able to go to work and return home without being the victim of a crime,'" Shelton said Sunday. "Our investigators will work hard to bring this family answers and bring the killer to justice." Family members said he told a friend by telephone that he had been shot and asked that friend to call 911. He was from Acworth, Georgia. His mother, Violent Mueni, and father, Councillor Ngangi, live in Kenya, as well as his only surviving brother, Vincent Mutuku. His cousins living in the U.S. include Erik Sukulu in California, Lilian Musyoki in Tennessee and Eunice Munyiva, in Georgia. All of his other cousins and family remain in Kenya. He leaves behind a wife and three children, said Sukulu. "Mike had the entrepreneurial spirit that guided him in his pursuit of the American dream,"' Sukulu said. He moved to the U.S. in 2008, and worked in various department stores in Atlanta before landing a job with Shaw Industries. "His ambition and thirst for success led him to open a cultural clothing line, "254," and he traversed the country selling his merchandise to his Kenyan-American target market during major sporting events," Sukulu said. "He was an outstanding citizen who knew that the path to success is a treacherous one but, step by step, one can get there through hard work and commitment." Family described him as soft-spoken and kind - a man of the people. "His smile was contagious. He lit the room," his cousin said. "His demise is one that has sent waves through the Kenyan-American community."' "If only that senseless killer knew him, he could not have pulled the trigger," Sukulu said. "If only he knew he just had a baby and another on the way, he could not have robbed them of their father." "I hope justice will be served," he said. "Meanwhile, we will celebrate Mike's life in the way only he knew best. May God rest his soul in eternal peace and see us through this difficult time." This is Birmingham's 44th homicide this year, and the 63rd in all of Jefferson County. Of the 44 Birmingham homicides, at least four have been ruled justifiable and therefore aren't deemed criminal by the department. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. | |||||||||
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