A New York man standing at a phone booth outside a Northwest Baltimore convenience store was killed last night in what police believe was a drug-related shooting.

Lewis Evangelista, 24, of the Bronx was shot once in the back with a 9mm semiautomatic gun as he was using the telephone outside the 7-Eleven store on Dolfield Avenue at West Cold Spring Lane about 10 p.m., police said.

Mr. Evangelista, who was carrying several hundred dollars at the time, ran across a parking lot, staggered and fell next to a sewer grate, police said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police described the killer as a 5-foot-5-inch black man wearing shorts and driving a car with Maryland tags.

At least three people witnessed the slaying, including clerks inside the store. They were shaken by the sudden eruption of violence, said the store's owner, who identified himself only as Miro.

He said he had owned the store for eight years and had not had problems with crime until the past year.

The store was ransacked in July, he said, and his mother was shot at the store Oct. 9 of last year.

The incidents have frightened him and his employees, he said.

"This used to be a very safe neighborhood," the store owner said. "Apparently, it's not any more."