A tragic incident occurred early Tuesday morning as a married employee of Papa John’s in Bronx, who had been awarded “Employee of the Month” twice, was fatally shot in the head during an apparent mugging outside his home. Idriss Cherif El Farissy, aged 28, had just parked his car after finishing his delivery driver shift at East 176th Street apartment in Crotona Park East when he became a target for the shooter.
A neighbor, identified only as Joe, reported hearing gunshots and screaming around 3 a.m., suspecting that El Farissy was coming home from work. He didn’t even get a chance to open the gate,” Joe recounted, adding that by the time he went out, El Farissy’s wife had arrived, and police were trying to revive him on the sidewalk. The assailant stole items from the victim before escaping on a bike.
El Farissy, originally from Morocco, was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been working at the pizza shop for about eight months, having begun his job around Thanksgiving time. His co-worker and cashier, Leslie Pozo, aged 29, shared that he won “Employee of the Month” twice during his short tenure there. She expressed her disbelief over such a violent act against someone who had never caused trouble for anyone else.
Pozo described El Farissy as an amiable person with excellent communication skills in French, Spanish, English, and Arabic, his native language from Morocco. He did not have children yet but hoped to finish school before starting a family. His close-knit family was looking forward to him going on vacation to the Dominican Republic with his wife in two weeks, and El Farissy enjoyed spending every Sunday with his mother.
El Farissy’s family members were visibly emotional as they asked a reporter to leave while FDNY members hosed blood off the sidewalk in front of his home. Police officers stood next to El Farissy’s white Nissan Altima, which was still running outside his house. His neighbor, Joe, remembered him as “a really nice guy” who had only moved in with his wife last October and generally kept to himself. The neighborhood is now left in shock over the senseless loss of life.
