A crazed upstate New York husband went home and murdered his wife and two young kids an hour after gunning down a store owner, according to prosecutors.
Saleh Q. Mohamed, 29, allegedly started his Buffalo murder spree by shooting deli owner Shukri Muthana, 43, in the chest at around 2:30 p.m. Monday, KBKW reported.
As cops were investigating that, calls came in an hour later about a shooting at Mohamed’s home in Cheektowaga — where a neighbor reported hearing gunshots and “screaming,” WGRZ reported.
There, responding officers found the bodies of the accused killer’s 26-year-old wife, Aaisha Abdulla, and their sons, ages 4 and 3. All three had been shot.
A neighbor who lives two doors down said she heard what sounded “like six or seven pops, like a nail gun going off.”
“And then it was quiet, and then all sorts of hell broke loose with, like, the screaming, like, people legitimately screaming,” the woman, who did not wish to share her name, told WGRZ.
She said police tackled Mohamed outside, and saw two others being detained. The family had lived in the home for about two years, she said.
Mohamed’s relationship with Muthana was not immediately clear.
“It’s an unbelievably sad occasion for the community here,” Dr. Khalid Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told WKBW.
“Everybody is trying to get grips on this unbelievably sad situation. Nobody can seem to understand why it would happen, what the reasons behind it is, and how it can be prevented in the future.”
Mohamed is charged with one count of first-degree murder for the Buffalo shooting and three counts of second-degree murder for his wife and children’s deaths. He is being held without bail.
If convicted, Mohamed faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said, while noting that “additional charges may be filed.”
