BOSTON — The family of the Roxbury store clerk who remains on life support after being shot got to see their loved one for the first time on Tuesday night.
Tanjim Siam, a young Bangladeshi man, was shot in the head by robbers who held up the convenience store he worked at. Siam has undergone multiple surgeries and has since been on life support.
[ After a 30-hour journey, family of Roxbury clerk shot during robbery arrives to say final goodbyes ]
Boston 25 News reporter Malini Basu has been communicating with the family for the last three weeks over Facetime.
Malini met with the mother and family alone, with no cameras involved. Siam’s mother, Monowara Begum Moni, couldn’t stop crying and shared stories about her beloved son, wishing he would be okay.
[ 1 person shot during robbery at Roxbury convenience store, police say ]
She, along with her husband and 6 and 14-year-old sons flew in from Bangladesh late Monday night.
For the first time on Tuesday night, they went to see Siam at the hospital. A short time later, a team of doctors from Boston Medical Center gave Siam’s family the devastating news: there is no hope for their son.
[ Tanjim Siam’s family granted emergency visas, story catches attention of local politicians ]
A family friend spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon.
[ Roxbury store clerk shot on life support; plea from victim’s mom in Bangladesh ]
“I couldn’t bare my tears, I was shocked,” said Abdul Matin, who was there the night of the robbery. “I saw their screaming and I was so upset. I sit down with the doctors for 30 minutes. Doctors told them the details to the parents.”
It was just three weeks ago when the 25-year-old was shot while working at M & R convenience store on Shawmut Avenue in Roxbury.
[ ’My whole family is depending on me’: Boston store owners say they’re working in fear ]
Police say the gunman walked in, robbed the place, then made Siam get down on his knees, before shooting him in the head twice.
Two bullets remain lodged in his head. The gunman is still nowhere to be found.
“It’s terrible right now,” said Humayun Morshed with the Boston Convenience Store Owners Association. “The community is fearing, the fear is who will be next. The guy is still behind somewhere.”
Tanjim Siam came to this country just four months ago from Bangladesh. His aspirations were to go to college and help support his family financially back home.
“They are very poor people, and good people. They’re honest,” said Matin.
“He was a good guy, and a helping hand with the family, the dream fall apart. The two younger brothers, he was supporting the school,” said Morshed.
Siam’s mom tells Malini she is so weak. She doesn’t know how to let her son go. She took Malini’s hand and made her feel her heart beat and she said she doesn’t feel like she has one anymore.
His mother said, “I can’t breathe knowing my son will die.”
You can help the family by donating to their GoFundMe here.