SAN ANTONIO – It should have been just another day inside the store where Farouk Haifa greeted his customers every day.
His morning routine of sweeping in front of Stanley’s Ice House, located in the 2500 block of West Southcross Boulevard, followed by opening up the shop just before 7 a.m. was familiar to people who live in the neighborhood.
Police say that routine was likely something an armed robber also knew well when he walked into the store April 15, 2013.
“This armed assailant – and I’m going to say a male suspect dressed all in black – came in, shot Mr. Haifa several times, killing him,” said San Antonio police Detective Kim Bower. “Right after that, he took several thousands of dollars that was behind the cash register or under the cash register.”
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He may have been looking for something else to take on the way out.
“There are footprints through the store,” Bower said.
Haifa often helped people who would come into his store, but didn’t have money to buy things. That's one reason police say seeing a man pointing a gun at him and demanding cash surprised Haifa.
“I think (the killer is) maybe even somebody he had seen before and maybe the confrontation was, ‘Why are you doing this to me?’ and ‘I would have just given it to you,’ but it didn’t turn out that way,” Bower said.
She said little is known about Haifa’s killer.
“The only thing we know is that he’s probably Hispanic or white. He was dressed in black and he was armed with a handgun – a semi-automatic handgun, a black handgun,” Bower said. “He fled, got in a small black vehicle.”
While school children walked to a nearby middle school and drivers passed the store, none of them have come forward to tell police information about the suspect.
“There’s probably several people that saw the vehicle leaving, maybe somebody got a look at the driver or the license plate,” Bower said.
She said the killer may even live in the same neighborhood as the store.
“I think they’re actually too scared to say, knowing that this guy is capable of killing someone,” Bower said. “I think they’re afraid to come forward and tell us.”
She doesn’t think this killer slipped easily back into his daily life.
“If this person’s bragging about any robberies that they didn’t get caught, if this person’s carrying a semi-automatic handgun, if he happened to be able to purchase something right after Mr. Haifa was killed – that maybe he didn’t have a job and couldn’t afford,” Bower said of signs that might help someone recognize the suspect.
The man also left with checks made out to Stanley’s Ice House.
“Since he got away with it so easily and it’s already been over a year, I think that this guy is probably either when the cash runs out or he runs into more hard times, he will definitely do this again because he got away with it before,” Bower said.
Police hope that by going public with the case that someone will help them find the suspect before he strikes again. They’d also like to bring closure to Haifa’s family.
“It’s very sad,” Bower said. “Mr. Haifa was a good person and well liked in that community.”
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP.