Surveillance footage caught the shocking moment a New York City bodega worker allegedly stabbed a customer to death, after the man violently confronted him about the price of some snacks.
Video shows the employee - 51-year-old Jose Alba - sitting behind a counter at the Hamilton Heights grocery store, tending to customers on Friday night.
A man then pushed Alba into a shelf and appears to confront him, before yelling at another customer trying to purchase something.
He pulls Alba up out of the chair, at which point Alba reaches to the right toward shelves displaying an assortment of candy, and pulls out a large knife, which he allegedly plunges into the man's neck and chest at least five times.
The two could be glimpsed struggling off-camera, as blood splatters across the victim's white t-shirt and along Alba's arms.
By the time he comes back into view, Alba could allegedly be seen holding the bloodied knife with blood splattered across his arm.
The customer, who was later identified as 37-year-old Austin Simon, was transported to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Alba has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
He is being held on Rikers Island on a $250,000 bond, and is due back in court on Thursday.
In the meantime, local residents have rallied around Alba, tweeting out the hashtag #FreeJoseAlba.
They claim he was acting in self-defense and say Simon was a known gang member.
According to the NYPD, the incident began at around 11pm on Friday after a woman entered the store with her 10-year-old daughter to buy several items.
But the woman's EBT card was declined, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily News, and Alba reached over the counter to take the snacks away from the girl.
At that point the woman became enraged and summoned Simon - her boyfriend.
'The lady threw everything from the counter and the machine too,' Maad Ahmad, the owner of the Blue Moon Convenient Store told the Daily News, referring to the card reader.
'She said, 'I'm going to get my man, and he's going to get you,'' he claimed.
Simon then walked around the counter and confronted Alba - leading to the confrontation caught on surveillance footage.
أمسك جوزيه من رقبته وحاول إقناعه بالاعتذار للفتاة ، 'قال أحمد ، مضيفًا:' لقد دفع جوزيه أولاً ، كان جوزيه يدافع عن نفسه.
وبحسب سجلات الشرطة ، قالت ألبا للضباط الموجودين في مكان الحادث: 'كان يريدني أن أعتذر للفتاة. أخذت السكين الذي نستخدمه لفتح الصناديق ، وطعنته.
تزعم وثائق المحكمة أيضًا أن صديقة سيمون أخرجت سكينًا من محفظتها وطعنت ألبا في ذراعها ، لكن لم يتم توجيه الاتهام إليها.
ثم ورد أن ألبا نُقل إلى مستشفى محلي بسبب جروحه قبل سجنه.
قال موظف في أحد المتاجر لموقع DailyMail.com يوم الأربعاء: `` لا تزال الحبيبة تستمتع بحياتها '' ، مشيرة إلى أنها `` نفدت '' بعد الطعن المزعوم.