Brian Burrows, 52, arrested in Baltimore convenience store robbery, fatal shooting

Baltimore police arrested 52-year-old Brian Burrows on Feb. 19 at his home in the 5200 block of Linden Heights and charged him with First-Degree Murder in the Feb. 13 convenience store shooting that left 36-year-old clerk Khaled Saleh Mohamed Alshariki dead. Authorities also charged Burrows in a separate Commercial Armed Robbery reported Feb. 15 in the 1400 block of North Bond Street, and he was transported to the Central Booking Intake Facility.

Officers responded around 9:27 a.m. on Feb. 13 to the 1000 block of N. Broadway, where they located Alshariki with a gunshot wound to his torso. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries. A family member told investigators that Khaled worked as a clerk and left behind three children, all between the ages of six and eight.

Surveillance footage of the incident exists and has circulated with local reporting; one caption circulating online described the scene this way: “A robbery at a Baltimore convenience store early Friday morning turned deadly after a masked suspect shot a clerk and then calmly took money.” Television reporting reconstructed the encounter, saying the suspect threatened the clerk and, “Three seconds later, at least one shot was fired, killing the employee. The suspect then went behind the counter to steal what appears to be cash.”

Investigators have not released a definitive figure for the take, though local television reporting said the armed robbery suspect “got away with as much as $600. Police could not say exactly how much or what was taken from the fatal armed robbery.” Police characterized the case as a “robbery gone bad” as they worked to tie the North Broadway shooting to the Feb. 15 Bond Street robbery cited in the charges.

The killings and follow-up robberies have heightened concern in Baltimore’s Yemeni community. A man who said a gun was pointed at him while he worked described his fear through a translator: “At first, he was of course scared, he was fearing for his life.” Shoppers at the North Broadway store reacted after seeing the footage: “When I saw that video, my heart just sank,” said Cynthia, and Vanessa added, “I wouldn't have done anyone like that. No money in the world is worth what that person did to another person. No money in the world.”

Police announced the arrest on Friday afternoon; another update in the developing coverage noted that “Burrows was taken into custody Thursday,” a reporting discrepancy officials have not reconciled publicly. Beyond the charges of First-Degree Murder and the connection to the Feb. 15 Commercial Armed Robbery on North Bond Street, police have not released details about whether a weapon was recovered or whether the surveillance video directly led to the arrest.