Burlington business community on edge after deadly downtown stabbing

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Still no arrest in the deadly stabbing of a man inside a Burlington restaurant after the bars closed Sunday morning. I spoke with the mayor and the business community following the city’s fifth homicide this year.

“I want to offer my condolences to the Sharrif family for their loss and wish them strength during what is a terrible time,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger, D-Burlington.

Friends of 23-year-old Abubakar Sharrif, who call him “Boosie,” set up a memorial outside Piesanos on Main Street to honor his memory. Sharrif was stabbed to death in the restaurant shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday.

The mayor says Burlington police are doing everything they can to crack the case.

“The department is working extremely hard on this case, as they do with all homicide cases, of course. He has expressed confidence to me that the perpetrator of this violence will be held accountable,” Weinberger said.

Police tell us Sharrif and someone else got into a fight inside and outside the restaurant before the stabbing.

Kelly Devine, the executive director of the Burlington Business Association, says businesses that stay open at night are trying to think of ways to stay safe.

“We are most certainly all concerned. We are talking a lot about how to address the problem and come up with some real solutions. I’ve talked to staff at some of these places. Pretty much all of these places that have instituted a buddy system,” Devine said.

Sunday, I spoke with a man who lives downtown who told me things feel out of control and he wants more police in the area at night.

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Burlington stabbing leaves 1 man dead

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