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Jewelry store employee killed during robbery
A 29-year-old employee of Victoria Jewelers was killed Monday during a robbery in the store, marking the first homicide in the jewelry industry this year.
Richmond, Va.--A 29-year-old employee of Victoria Jewelers was killed Monday during a robbery in the store, marking the first homicide in the jewelry industry this year.
According to the Richmond Police Department, around 4 p.m. on Monday, police were called to 309 E. Broad St. in Richmond in response to a report of a man down. Upon their arrival, police discovered Muhammad H. Baig dead inside the store from an apparent gunshot wound.
Detectives believe that Baig was killed during a robbery at the store.
Victoria Jewelers did have video surveillance, and customers had to be let in through a locked front door, according to local news reports, and the robbery is believed to have happened during one of Broad Street’s busiest times of the day.
Baig’s body was taken to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy to officially determine the cause and manner of death.
The investigation into the case is ongoing, and the police department continues to search for more information about the suspect involved in the incident. Detectives are asking anyone with information about this crime to call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
RELATED CONTENT: 8 takeaways from the JSA’s 2013 crime stats
This is the first member of the jewelry industry killed in the United States this year, according to Jewelers’ Security Alliance President John J. Kennedy. By this time last year, there was also one member of the industry who had been killed, a traveling salesperson.
In 2013, six members of the jewelry industry were killed during robberies, according to the JSA’s annual crime report, compared with the two reported in 2012, seven in 2011 and four in 2010.
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