Shooting spree at Afghan market in Sacramento left three dead
UC Davis student Hassibullah Shams Hassib, 33, was identified Wednesday by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as the man suspected of fatally shooting two people and injuring a third before killing himself Saturday at an Afghan grocery store in Sacramento.
Hassib died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire around 3:10 p.m. Saturday at the East Market & Restaurant on El Camino Avenue in the Arden-Arcade area, law enforcement officials said. He was a current student at UC Davis and graduated from Sacramento’s Mira Loma High School in 2005.
Shujauddin Omarkheil, 27, of Natomas, was shopping with his 4-year-old daughter for fresh bread to take home for dinner when he was shot in the head, according to Farhad Yousafzai, a family friend who started a GoFundMe page for Omarkheil’s family.
“Omarkheil’s wife received a call to pick up her daughter as her husband had been taken to the Emergency room,” Yousafzai said on the fundraising page. Hours later, Omarkheil was pronounced dead at a local hospital, law enforcement officials said.
Omarkheil immigrated with his family to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2018 on a Special Immigrant Visa, a refugee status given to Afghans and Iraqis who worked with U.S. Armed Forces or at a U.S. embassy. “He travelled half way across the world with his young family to escape from war and provide his children with a safe place to call home,” Yousafzai said.
According to local news reports, Omarkheil attended American River College while working two jobs to support his family.
“This tragedy has sent shock waves through the Afghan community — a majority of which has come to the United States to escape incidents such as these,” Yousafzai said. “Omarkheil was an amazing father, husband and friend. His widow now finds herself alone to raise 2 children in a country she barely knows anything about with very limited language skills.”
A funeral ceremony for Omarkheil was held Wednesday afternoon. In addition to his wife and daughter, he leaves behind a six-month-old son.
Mobin Andishmand, 19, was shot in the back of the head during the attack at the East Market & Restaurant. He died from his injuries on Wednesday night, according to a GoFundMe page started by his cousin, Omar Ansary. Andishmand, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2014, leaves behind his parents and three younger siblings.
A third victim, Asmatullah Amiri, was in the checkout line when the gunman opened fire, he told KCRA. He was shot in his right shoulder while running away and was rushed to the hospital by paramedics. Amiri, who immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2016 on a Special Immigrant Visa, was interviewed Wednesday on local television and is expected to recover from injuries.
“I thought I was going to die,” said the 30-year-old husband and soon-to-be father, who still had a bullet lodged in his shoulder. “I was very nervous about my wife and son’s future.”
Sgt. Tess Deterding, a spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, said earlier this week that detectives did not believe the suspect and the victims knew each other. All three victims as well as the suspect, Hassib, were of Afghan descent.
Detectives have not determined a motive for the shooting. Sheriff’s officials said there was no indication of a hate crime. Hassib had no prior criminal record in Sacramento County apart from a 2014 traffic misdemeanor, court records show.
— Reach Caleb Hampton at champton@davisenterprise.net. Follow him on Twitter at @calebmhampton.