Suspected gunman in deadly Arden Arcade halal market shooting was a UC Davis student
A man suspected of shooting three people at an Arden Arcade market last weekend, killing two and injuring another before authorities say he turned the gun on himself, was a student at the University of California, Davis.
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office has released the name of Hassibullah Shams Hassib, who died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sheriff’s officials said.
On Thursday evening, Andy Fell, a UC Davis spokesman, confirmed Hassib was enrolled as a UC Davis student majoring in international relations. According to an online campus directory, Hassib was a junior.
Hassib, 33, is listed under coroner’s records as a Sacramento resident. Sacramento County Superior Court records show Hassib’s only prior charge in the county was a 2014 traffic misdemeanor.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has said Hassib opened fire at the East Market & Restaurant - Sharq, which sells halal and Afghan groceries and meals in the 3400 block of El Camino Avenue, a block south of Watt Avenue.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Tess Deterding said Monday that detectives do not believe the suspect and the victims knew each other. She also said the detectives did not have any indication that the shooting at the Afghan market was a hate crime. Detectives have not determined a motive.
Abdul Andishmand, 19, of Sacramento, and Shujauddin Omarkheil, 27, were killed in the market shooting, according to authorities. Sheriff’s officials have said a third victim in the shooting, a 30-year-old man, is expected to survive his injuries.
Omar Ansary, a relative who started a GoFundMe account to raise money for Andishmand’s family, said last weekend’s shooting left the young man severely wounded with little hope for his survival. Ansary announced Wednesday evening that Andishmand has died.
Ansary said Andishmand, who he called “Mobin,” came to the United States with his family from Afghanistan in 2014 so he could get an education and live a better life. Andishmand was a 2019 graduate of Encina High School, San Juan Unified School District officials said.
“Mobin was a sweet and gentle person of great character,” Ansary wrote on the GoFundMe page. “He was very motivated to pursue a successful and comfortable life for his family.”
Ansary said Andishmand was a victim of what he called “a cowardly murder-suicide attack.” Andishmand was shot in the back of his head while grocery shopping for his family, according to Ansary.
Farhad Yousafzai is a family friend who started a GoFundMe account to help Omarkheil’s widow and two children. Yousafzai said Omarkheil moved to this country from Afghanistan in 2018 to escape war. Farhad Yousafzai wrote Omarkheil “was shot in the head” while shopping with his 4-year-old daughter.
“Omarkheil was an amazing father, husband and friend,” Yousafzai wrote. “His widow now finds herself alone to raise 2 children in a country she barely knows anything about with very limited language skills.”
