Groups host community event to honor victims of Arden Arcade halal market shooting
Sacramento-area advocacy groups are hosting an event Wednesday to honor the victims of a shooting earlier this month at an Arden Arcade market that killed two and injured another before the gunman turned the gun on himself.
Organizers of the event say they also want to give community members a chance to heal and “stand in solidarity” with each other, according to a news release from the Council on American-Islamic Relations Sacramento Valley, also known as CAIR.
Two members of the Afghan community, Abdul Andishmand, 19, of Sacramento and Shujauddin Omarkheil, 27, died after they were shot at the East Market & Restaurant - Sharq on Oct. 3. A 30-year-old man also was struck by gunfire, but he was expected to survive his injuries.
“This tragedy has deeply impacted our community and left multiple families in mourning.” Imam Yasir Khan, president of the Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations, said in the news release. “We need to come together as a community to effectively connect people with the resources they need and to ensure something like this never happens again.”
The event, called Voices of Change: Remembering the Victims and Healing the Community, is scheduled from 5:15 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Masjid Annur Islamic Center at 6990 65th St. in south Sacramento.
The event will be held outside in the center’s parking lot, but only 100 people at a time with social distancing requirements will be allowed hear keynote speakers while standing in the parking lot due to COVID-19 restrictions. Organizers said the rest of the attendees will have to remain in their vehicles during the event, which will also be livestreamed on Facebook.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has said Hassibullah Shams Hassib opened fire on the three victims at the market. He died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sheriff’s officials have said.
Hassib was enrolled as a UC Davis student majoring in international relations. According to an online campus directory, Hassib was a junior at the school.
Last week, sheriff’s officials said detectives do not believe the suspect and the victims knew each other. The detectives also did not have any indication that the shooting at the Afghan market was a hate crime. Detectives had not determined a motive.
The deadly shooting occurred in broad daylight as customers were at the market, which sells halal and Afghan groceries and meals in the 3400 block of El Camino Avenue, not far from Watt Avenue.
A family friend has said Omarkheil, who had moved to the United States from Afghanistan in 2018 to escape war, “was shot in the head” while shopping with his 4-year-old daughter. A GoFundMe account was created to help Omarkheil’s widow and two children.
The Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations is co-hosting Wednesday’s event with the Muslim American Society - Social Services Foundation. Gulshan Yusufzai, the Sacramento-based foundation’s executive director, said they have been in contact with the victims and their families to provide support.
“This unfortunate incident illustrates the urgent need to increase culturally competent services and support to the refugee community,” Yusufzai said in the news release.
One of Andishmand’s relatives started a GoFundMe account for Andishmand’s family. The relative said Andishmand’s family came to this country from Afghanistan in 2014, so the young man could get an education and live a better life. Andishmand was a 2019 graduate of Encina High School.
“Our community is in deep shock in light of this tragedy,” Oussama Mokeddem, CAIR’s policy and advocacy manager. “This is yet another instance that shows the dire need for culturally competent mental health education and services.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 3:15 PM.
