A Bangladesh national who was working as gas station attendant at Los Feliz in Los Angeles was shot dead during an early morning robbery on Tuesday.

The victim is Mizanur Rahman Russell, son of Abdur Rafique, hailing from Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj district, UNB correspondent reported quoting his family members.

One of his friends from Los Angels conveyed Russell’s killing to his father Rafique over phone on Wednesday morning.  

Thirty-year-old Russell was doing his MBA at a university there. His body will be brought back home after necessary formalities. 

Authorities have yet to identify the victim, but Benoit Hecquet and co-workers described him as a ‘native of Bangladesh’ who worked the overnight shift to earn money for his family and put himself through graduate school, reports Los Angeles Times.

‘It’s shocking’, said the report quoting Benoit Hecquet, who lives near the Chevron gas station at the corner of Vermont Avenue and Los Feliz Boulevard as saying. ‘I remember a few gunshots a few years ago, but nothing so terrible.’

Quoting co-workers the report claimed the victim was an MBA student who worked by nights while studying, reports UNB.

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) investigators are investing the killing.

The shooting death left co-workers and neighbours shaken in this upscale neighbourhood near the gateway to the Greek Theatre and Griffith Observatory. 

‘He was always polite, talkative. And he even asked about how my son was doing’, said Hecquet, who said he would sometimes buy cigarettes at the station.

The shooting occurred about 3:30am when a man entered the Chevron station and purchased an item, the Los Angeles Times quoted LAPD Det. Meghan Aguilar. The man later returned to the counter, produced a handgun and demanded money, she said.

‘The clerk was cooperating when the man shot him’, Aguilar said. The gunman then reached over the counter and grabbed the entire cash drawer and ran, Aguilar said.

The suspect fled in a light-coloured car. The wounded clerk was able to call 911 and was rushed to the hospital, where he died from his injuries. ‘I’m sure scenarios like these happen, but I am heartbroken,’ said Carlos Francisco. ‘He was a dreamer. Work by night, study by day to make himself better.’

The popular filling station remained closed for much of the day on Tuesday as detectives and crime scene technicians combed the scene for clues. Forensic experts were also preparing to examine video from 32 surveillance cameras.

The victim, who was in his 20s, only recently began working at the gas station, Francisco said. ‘He was the only son, and he sent money home to his family,’ Francisco added.

Another co-worker, who asked not to be named, said the station never gets any trouble, apart from the occasional drunk.

‘This is worst thing that has ever happened here’, he said. ‘This is a neighbourhood of more than million-dollar homes.’