Jason Barber was working at Kinko's at the Parkwest Crossings Shopping Center when he and his co-workers went next door to the Philly Steak and Cheese Restaurant. When they found no one in the front of the restaurant, they went behind the counter and found 40-year-old Hamid Elouali of Apex. He had been shot in the head.
"I've never seen anything like this happen around here," Barber says. "It's pretty shocking more than anything."
Police say Elouali was murdered inside the back room of his own restaurant between 4:30 and 6 p.m. Friday.
"We treat this particular part of town as low in crime," says Sgt. Mike Montgomery of the Durham Police Department. "This is something that you don't see in the Parkwood area or southern part of Durham."
Police say robbery could be a motive in the crime. The victim's car is also missing. They are asking people to look for a 1993 burgundy Toyota van with a North Carolina license plate tagNNX-3023.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call Crimestoppers at919-683-1200.
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