The bodega owner shot in the face during a robbery Monday night in Queens died Wednesday morning at Jamaica Hospital. Police say they have linked the three men who shot the 53-year-old Bolivar Cruz Monday night at the Kennedy Mini Mart in South Ozone Park to more than a dozen other robberies since March. Cruz was reportedly trying to protect his family by pulling his own licensed gun on the robbers, but he did not fire a shot. "Somebody decided to get money the easy way, took away his life,” said Cruz’s daughter Karina Cruz. “Today, instead of celebrating my son's first birthday, my first born, I have to plan a funeral." "He lived and breathed for his store, he lived and breathe for his family,” said another daughter, Angelina Cruz. “He did everything to keep it together for his family and that's what we're going to do. We're going to stay together, keep it together for my father's sake." NYPD investigators believe the same three men hit a store about a mile and a half away just a few minutes earlier. Police are looking for a red car, possibly a Lexus with Florida plates. Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stopper Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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