[UPDATE IN EXTENDED STORY] (Click HERE for photos) 67-year-old Elgudzha (Eli) Koyenishvili was R”L shot and killed Wednesday night, as he stood behind the register in his Staten Island liquor store.

According to a YWN reporter live on the scene, a man entered the store at 118 Lincoln Road at approximately 8:00PM, pulled out a gun, shot Koyenishvili at point-blank range, and stole the cash-register.

He was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital in traumatic arrest, but was R”L pronounced dead on arrival.

Koyenishvili was a Mispallel by Chabad Rabbi Moshe Katzman, and upon receiving word of the tragedy contacted Misaskim organization.

Misaskim Volunteers from Staten Island & Brooklyn were dispatched at 3:00AM, and waited until the detectives completed their investigation.

At 6:00AM their Avodas Hakodesh was complete, and are now working with the NYC Medical Examiner’s Office to ensure that his Levaya takes place as quickly as possible.

Police told YWN that they are searching for a man who is 5 feet 7 inches tall wearing a blue jacket and who possibly fled in a pickup truck.

UPDATE 3:30PM EST: YWN has learned that the NYPD has arrested 40-year-old John Lanorith, and have charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Elgudzha (Eli) Koyenishvili Z”L came to the United States about 15 years ago from the Soviet Union. He leaves behind a wife, two children, and three grandchildren.

(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN)