A scene of peaceful tranquility turned to horror in an instant, when Iraqi immigrant Ahmed Al-Jumaili was gunned down in front of his Dallas, Texas home while watching his first snowfall.
The newlywed man was separated from his wife, Zahraa, for a year and a half while waiting for his application to live in the United States to be approved.
He finally arrived in Houston on February 6, 2015, and was reunited with his wife; one month later, outside their new apartment, as she photographed Al-Jumaili experiencing the snowfall, he was shot and killed by an unknown assailant. (Dallas police have since released a video of the suspects.)
Suspect Video
Authorities are investigating whether Al-Jumaili was the victim of a hate crime. In a detailed account of the incident posted on Facebook by Alia Salem, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, described the attack.
Salem wrote that Al-Jumaili took cover behind a pickup truck when a group of five or six young African-Americans opened fire. A bullet pierced through the truck and struck Al-Jumaili in the chest, Salem said.
Aside from the surveillance video, Dallas police concede that they have very few clues in the investigation, and are enlisting the help of the public to solve the crime.
North Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or indictment.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the attack has some Muslim activists shaken up, with some pointing to the recent murder of three Muslim students in North Carolina.
The neighbourhood where Al-Jumaili was killed has a large immigrant population, and northern Dallas is home to a large number of Iraqi refugees.
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