In the early morning hours of June 10, 2023, 42-year-old Erasmo Pujols was shot and killed outside the University Deli on University Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. At about 4:45 a.m. an assailant approached Pujols and fired multiple times; responding officers found him with gunshot wounds to the torso and right arm. A bystander who had been inside the deli said Pujols pleaded for help before emergency medical services transported him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead.

Pujols lived roughly three blocks from the deli where the shooting occurred. The NYPD released surveillance images of a suspect described as a Black male with a medium-dark complexion and a goatee, about 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall and 185 to 190 pounds, last seen wearing a multicolored hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and white clogs. No arrests have been reported and the investigation remains open.

If anyone has information that could help identify the shooter or the events that led to Pujols’s death, please come forward.