A man gunned down on a Brooklyn street in broad-daylight was the hardworking owner of a nearby smoke shop and an “angel,” his younger brother said Tuesday.
Nelson Ortiz, 24, had just bought a sandwich at the Midway Deli and Grill in Canarsie at about 4:15 p.m. Monday when his assailant struck, his brother, Patrick Ortiz, told The Post.
“This is a nightmare — I woke up crying today for the first time ever,” Patrick said.
“He was a good guy. He was an angel.”
A nearby surveillance camera caught the close-range killing in all its horror, showing the victim ambling down the street as a pair of unidentified men wearing hoodies stalk after him.
Nelson walks into the corner deli, gets his food and is barely out the door when the shooter ambushes him, pumping two rounds into his stomach before running away.
Nelson clutches his gut as he falls, then rolls over and seems to lean against the building.
The victim, who lived about a block from the deli on Avenue L near East 95th Street, was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Patrick remembered his older brother as a man who loved video games and worked ceaselessly to grow the nearby smoke shop — Flossy Exotics — that the pair opened a few years ago.
“It was a blessing,” Patrick said.
“We were so broke we couldn’t eat every day. But we opened the store and everything changed. My brother, he worked hard … He took care of me.”
Vincent Fontana, the 45-year-old owner of Original Pizza a few doors down, said he often saw Nelson walking up and down Avenue L.
But Monday was different.
Fontana was standing behind his counter when he heard three shots ring out, he told The Post.
And when he went outside, he saw Nelson on the ground, clutching his stomach and gasping for air.
Patrick said he could tell right away that his brother was dead.
“He was lying there, he wasn’t gagging or moving,” Patrick said.
“I could see the blood coming out [of the bullet wounds] … his skin just changed. You can tell when someone’s dead.”
Fontana said he’s convinced it was a targeted attack.
Nelson had an argument with someone in his smoke shop last week, he heard.
And the surveillance video shows two men shadowing him before the shooting.
It would be the latest example of the Wild West-style violence that has engulfed many of the city’s 1,500 or so unlicensed, unregulated smoke shops and left a trail of dead men in its wake.
Just last week, a reputed gangbanger allegedly executed a Brooklyn man after the two had words inside a Harlem store.
It was the second man he’d allegedly killed in 27 hours, cops said.
Cops said the suspects in Ortiz’s killing fled south on East 95th Street.
Both have dark complexions.
One wore a yellow sweater and matching sneakers, while the other wore a blue hoodie with yellow stripes, police said.
No arrests have been made.
Meanwhile, Patrick said he’s worried the shooter will return.
His brother didn’t have problems with anyone — but the killer definitely knew who he was, Patrick said.
“I just hope they catch the guy who did it fast,” Patrick said.
“I’m scared.”
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Craig McCarthy
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