Man Shot To Death In Store He Owned

Victim May Have Been Targeted, Police Say

A 30-year-old man was fatally shot Thursday morning at nearly point-blank range in the store he owned in the Hyattsville area, Prince George's County police said yesterday.

Khalefa Olaleye was shot at his AT&T cellphone store in the 5800 block of Baltimore Avenue, police said. A postal worker found Olaleye with multiple gunshot wounds shortly after noon, said Officer Henry Tippett, a police spokesman.

Investigators have all but eliminated robbery as the motive and are looking into the possibility that Olaleye was targeted, law enforcement sources said. He was shot several times in the head and chest, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is continuing.

Investigators believe that Olaleye, who apparently was living in a back room in the store, might have let the assailant into the store, the sources said. There were no signs of a break-in or of a protracted struggle, they said.

Relatives said yesterday that Olaleye, a graduate of the University of Maryland, recently opened the cellphone franchise in a redeveloping section of the Baltimore Avenue corridor. He was the oldest son in a family of Nigerian immigrants active in the county's tight-knit African Muslim community, said Maroof Aremu, Olaleye's cousin.

"He was a real quiet and religious guy," Aremu said.

Jamiu Olalekan Salam, a family friend, said Olaleye's death had devastated Olaleye's father, Sheikh Yusuf Olaleye, chief imam of the Nigerian Muslims Council, based in the county.

Relatives, customers and merchants along Baltimore Avenue said they were shocked by the slaying. Paul Koko, a native of Ghana and the owner of Koko Fashion Design, said Olaleye's killing was senseless. "This guy was just trying to take care of his family," Koko said.

Gwen Pavana, manager of Koko Fashion, called the shooting "devastating" and expressed surprise that such a crime would happen in the up-and-coming area.

"We have never had anything like this," Pavana said.

Police said they were following several leads.

Messages left at a home phone listed for Olaleye's immediate family members in Bladensburg were not returned yesterday.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.