Ali Arezoumandifar, 79, was killed at work just hours before he was due to retire

A 79-year-old man worked hard his whole life and was just hours from retirement. His family were waiting at home. No one could have predicted what happened next.

Ali Arezoumandifar had just hours to go until the end of his shift and the start of his long-awaited retirement.

The 79-year-old from Florida was in the bottle shop he’d recently sold and counting down until he could go home and enjoy a celebratory dinner with his family.

Then, near the end of his shift, armed robbers entered the store. They shot him dead where he stood behind the counter. His body was found on the floor by a customer.

“Nobody expected what happened last night,” Boynton Beach Police Investigator Marco Villari told the Sun-Sentinel.

Police are unsure if there was a struggle or not and are still piecing together the night’s events. There was no CCTV at the store and detectives are checking nearby stores for any footage that may exist. The cash register was open and empty.

Police first met Mr Arezoumandifar last month when he was the victim of another robbery — in that incident he chased the robbers out the door

“Property crime — when money is stolen — we can deal with that,” Mr Villari said. “When a life is taken, that hurts.”

In the earlier robbery, a man with a black mask covering his face grabbed a tray of lottery tickets from a counter and ran from the store. But Mr Arezoumandifar chased the robber and tried to grab him, but was thrown to the ground as the offender fled.

That time he escaped with only minor face and head injuries. It was at that point his family urged him to retire.

Suspects from that incident had been linked to a similar heist at a nearby 7-Eleven and two people were taken into custody on November 7. No charges have been laid for the first incident involving Mr Arezoumandifar, reported the New York Post.

Mr Villari said one of the suspects earlier case has been ruled out from the murder because he is still in jail. The other, he said, was questioned and is considered a person of interest.

Originally published as Ali Arezoumandifar, 79, was killed at work just hours before he was due to retire