DENVER (AP) – Police say a worker at a convenience store in Denver died after being shot during an attempted robbery.

The shooting happened around 9 p.m. Monday.

Two men wearing ski masks walked into the Monaco Grocery store located at Colfax Avenue and Magnolia Street. Det. John White said there was a physical altercation and the worker was fatally shot.

Police are still searching for the suspects.

The victim’s friends say his name is Yezew Anday, 45. He was a part-time employee at Monaco Grocery and only worked at the store when the owner needed extra help. Anday had come to Denver from Ethiopia in 1991. He has an ex-wife and a young teenage daughter who live in New Mexico. Friends and family in Denver said he would send much of the money he made to family members in who remain in Ethiopia.

“He’s very hard-working, he worked hard, never had any trouble, he’s friends with everybody,” Tafere Ambaw, who claims to be the victim’s best friend, told CBS4. “He’s an excellent guy, he never fights, he’s not a fighter.”

Friends and family said they will work to organize a memorial service for Anday. They said he didn’t have a home of his own and lived with friends.

Police are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two suspects.