HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – The wife of a Florida man shot and killed in the parking lot of the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay claims the mosque knew there was a problem between her husband and the Florida man who shot and killed him and they did nothing to prevent her husband’s death.
Huda Salim Kareem came to the United States in 2008 to escape violence in her native Iraq.
Here, she met Rafat Saeed and married him. They were raising two daughters that Kareem had from a previous marriage.
According to a civil lawsuit filed for Kareem, Saeed was coming home from another Mosque after a Ramadan observance and was crossing through the parking lot of the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay when he was stopped by a volunteer security guard, MD Rakibul Haque, who was working for the mosque at the time.
A spokesperson for the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay has previously denied that Haque was working in any capacity for them.
According to the civil lawsuit, “Mr. Haque shoved Mr. Saeed face-first into the ground and before Mr. Saeed could get back to his feet, Mr. Haque shot him twice in the back. The shots fired by Mr. Haque, who was acting within the scope of his employment as a security guard for the Defendant, resulted in the death of Mr. Saeed.”
Attorney Sam Badwi is now representing Kareem and says he was a personal friend of Saeed.
Badwi says the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay knew Haque and Saeed had a previous violent argument and yet they continued to use Haque as an armed security guard and did nothing to protect Saeed.
“The mosque had knowledge, they could have prevented this. I fully disagree with the statement this could have happened in a Walmart parking lot, a Target parking lot, they knew, ” said Badwi.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says the incident is still under investigation. They have refused to even name the Florida man who shot Saeed or confirm the victim’s identity.
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