Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @AielloTV, composite
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Surveillance videos captured the moment a man tossed a Molotov cocktail into the NR Rock Deli in Brooklyn on Saturday morning, immediately igniting the store's interior and sending employees running from the flames, the New York Post reported.
What are the details?
New York City Fire Department and law enforcement sources told the paper the suspect got into an argument with store staff before carrying out the attack.
Video shows the suspect lighting the Molotov cocktail outside the Bedford-Stuyvesant store and tossing it inside.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @AielloTV
A second video camera inside the bodega shows the cocktail igniting near the deli display case and covering an entire side of the store with flames.
The explosion sent one employee running through the fire and stumbling to the floor with his shoe in flames before making it outside; a second employee also ran outside to safety.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @AielloTV
Video outside the store also shows the suspect attempting to toss a second Molotov cocktail into the deli before a Good Samaritan knocks the incendiary device from his hand, after which the cocktail explodes on the sidewalk in front of the store.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @AielloTV
'I'm gonna kill you'
Mohamed Abdulla was working behind the counter in his father's store when the attack took place, WCBS-TV reported.
"He was threatening, 'I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna burn the store. I'm going to burn the building down,'" Abdulla told the station regarding the suspect's alleged words prior to the attack.
Image source: WCBS-TV video screenshot
He told WCBS the first Molotov cocktail explosion "was so fast, you wouldn't believe it. I was there working in the deli and had customers. Out of nowhere I had glass and fire in my face."
Abdulla suffered burns to his arms, the station said.
Image source: WCBS-TV video screenshot
He's also thankful for the quick thinking of the man who stopped a second cocktail from being thrown into the deli, the station said: "If the second one would have came here, the whole building would have been on fire."
What happened after the attack?
Video shows the suspect running away after the Good Samaritan knocked the second Molotov cocktail from his hand.
Abdulla said he chased the suspect two blocks to a train station and held him until authorities arrived, WCBS reported.
FDNY fire marshals arrested Joel Mangal, 38, and charged him with arson, assault, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal mischief, the department told the Daily News.
Police told WCBS the suspect slashed Abdulla in the hand while Abdulla was holding him, which triggered the weapon charge.
"Fortunately, there was no loss of life here. The investigative work from the Explosives and Arson Task Force comprised of our Fire Marshals, the NYPD, and ATF, led to the timely arrest of this suspect who threatened the safety of our communities by using such a cruel and destructive device," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro told WPIX-TV. "FDNY will continue to work alongside local, state and federal partners to bring to justice those who use fire as a weapon against New Yorkers."
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