Authorities are searching for a possible serial killer who has gunned down three Brooklyn business owners since the summer.
The latest victim, 78-year-old Rahmatollah Vahidipour was killed in his women's clothing boutique on Flatbush Avenue Friday.
"I was shocked when I heard the word 'serial killer,'" said City Councilman Jumaane Williams. "It's not a word you hear often in New York City."
Williams joined State Sen. Eric Adams Sunday to call on the FBI to establish a special task force to track down the killer.
"The FBI is well know for their expertise in putting together a profile of a person who is a serial killer. We want this person caught," Adams said.
Police say in all three cases the gunman targeted stores without surveillance cameras owned by men of Middle Eastern descent. He used the same .22 caliber gun to shoot the victims in the head, neck or chest, and then covered each of their bodies with merchandise from their stores.
The murders were connected using shell casings found at the crime scenes.
The first attack took place at a Bay Ridge clothing store in July. A month later, the same gun was used to murder a shopkeeper inside his Bensonhurst 99 cent store.
Shop owners near the latest target now say they fear for their safety.
"It's a very scary thing. I'm Middle Eastern, the whole block is," said business owner David Elmann. "We're more on edge today."
