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NYC smoke shop worker in custody after fatally shooting alleged thief he claims returned to rob store after failed attempt

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Published Nov. 8, 2023, 8:22 p.m. ET

A Bronx smoke shop worker was taken into police custody after he allegedly shot and killed a man who he claimed was attempting to rob the store.

The employee of the convenience store and unlicensed cannabis dispensary on East Tremont Avenue allegedly shot 23-year-old Romel Carey in the head at around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, according to police and sources.

Carey, of Pennsylvania, had repeatedly tried to rob the Top Shelf bodega before he was fatally shot, the worker claimed.

A NYPD officer stands outside Top Shelf bodega and dispensary behind crime scene tape in the Bronx.
The victim was allegedly trying to rob the store when he was shot by a worker after midnight. Daniel William McKnight
A shelf knocked over inside a store where a shooting occurred, behind crime scene tape
The 23-year-old Pennsylvania man was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT
Crime scene tape blocks the sidewalk around a store, where a glass door inside is shattered
The employee was taken into custody but no charges had been filed as of Wednesday night. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT

The alleged thief first tried to loot the shop at around 11:40 p.m. Tuesday when he walked in and brandished a firearm, the sources said.

However, the store worker flashed a gun of his own, scaring him off.

Carey returned just 40 minutes later and allegedly tried to rob the establishment a second time, sources told The Post.

At that point, the employee fired his weapon, striking the would-be-robber in the head.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene and the staffer, described as “a person of interest,” was taken into custody, police said.

No charges were immediately filed on Wednesday.