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GREENSBORO — A man was found severely beaten inside his auto sales business Thursday afternoon, police said.

At 1:30 p.m., Greensboro police responded to a report of someone injured at Shima Auto Sales at 356 W. Lee St.

The man, identified as Akbar “Ed” Ghattan, was taken to Moses Cone Hospital with life-threatening injuries, Capt. Janice Rogers said.

Ghattan is 11 days shy of his 59th birthday.

As of 9:15 p.m., Rogers said that he was in critical condition.

There was no immediate information concerning a motive or suspects.

Police say they are unsure if Ghattan was beaten in a robbery or in an argument related to the business.

Investigators spent hours at the car lot Thursday, trying to sift through a significant amount of material that was “disturbed,” Investigators had yet to determine if anything was stolen.

Ghattan was found because someone was unable to reach him by phone at the business, Rogers said.

An employee showed up later, saw the owner had been beaten and called 911 about 12:45 p.m.

Police ask those with information to call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000.

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com