Add The New York Post on Google The FBI is offering a $25,000 reward in the hunt for a cold-blooded parolee who allegedly gunned down a Brooklyn restaurant worker and a deli customer during a horrifying 48-hour stickup spree.
The feds announced the reward Wednesday evening – as Jesus Acosta, 31, remained on the lam in connection to the murders of wings spot employee MD Yousef, 44, and bodega patron Tayvon Shuler, 33.
Acosta allegedly barged into America’s Best Wings and Pizza on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville around midnight Sunday — with his planned heist quickly turning violent, police said.
He allegedly shot Yousuf – a hardworking dad of two – in the head and struck another man, 39, in the leg, officials said.
The surviving victim, Mohammed Rasel, said he played dead – an act he believes tricked the heartless gunman into not killing him, too.
“He touched me…thinking I’m acting like I’m dying,” Rasel told WABC.
Then around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, the gun-toting criminal opened fire during another hold-up at a deli on East 149th Street near Walton Avenue in the Concourse section of The Bronx – hitting Shuler in the chest, police said.
He was rushed to Lincoln Medical Center, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries, authorities said.
That victim’s dad, Douglas Shuler, told WABC his son was “a good kid” who “would give the shirt off his back.”
“That’s my youngest,” the grieving dad added. “His brothers aren’t too fond of what happened…just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that’s how the city is, he’s going to be missed.”
Acosta – who did not know either of the dead victims – was identified as the suspect in both shootings by his parole officer, according to law-enforcement sources.
He had served just over 10 years in state prison before he was released on parole in April in connection to the May 5, 2015, shooting of a stranger during a dispute at the 110th Street–Malcolm X Plaza train station in Manhattan, according to cops and public records.
The United Bodegas of America also said Wednesday night that it is offering a reward of $10,000 for information leading to Acosta’s arrest, according to WABC.
