NEW YORK — Hamod Ali Saeidi, 87, walked several miles every day, checking in on family and friends. Last Saturday would have been no different — if not for the maniac who opened fire at a half dozen locations as he rode through Queens and Brooklyn, killing the Yemeni American grandfather and wounding three others.
Saeidi was on his way to prayers at his local mosque.
Thomas Abreu, 25, of Brooklyn, will face a judge in Queens Criminal Court after being charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and weapon possession for Saturday’s terrifying shooting rampage.
Saeidi was described as a caring and humble man who found himself in “the wrong place at the wrong time,” his grandson told the Washington Post. Saeidi was one of four shot Saturday by the alleged gunman, who fired randomly during a half-hour shooting spree across Brooklyn and Queens before he was apprehended by police.
Saeidi struggled to stand as blood soaked the front and back of his shirt, then doubled over and collapsed as a bystander moved in to help him, a video published by the New York Daily News shows.
Accused shooter Thomas Abreu, 25, was arrested on Sutphin Blvd. about two hours later. He was charged with murder and attempted murder.
Saeidi’s grandson Waseem told the Post that he was active for his age and didn’t want a car because he preferred walking. Every day, Saeidi walked the 15 blocks to his mosque for the noon prayer, the second of Islam’s five daily prayers.
During his time there, he would pray and visit friends, Waseem said, noting that despite what he was doing he always answered his wife’s phone calls. Saturday was the first time he did not answer.
“He was walking all the time,” Avraham Gaon, a neighbor, told the New York Daily News. “He always used to tell me he was so proud to walk: ‘I’m doing three miles a day. I’m doing four miles a day,’ and so on and so forth.”
Saeidi, who immigrated from Yemen in 1962, had came to the U.S. looking for a “new life,” his son, Ahmed Saeidi, told the New York Times.
Saeidi was known for his philanthropic streak, which compelled him to donate generously to benefit impoverished Yemenis living in his home country, his son said.
Tomas Abreu, the alleged shooter on the scooter in custody.
“He came to this country with nothing,” said a grandson, Abdul Saeidi, 25. “Worked hard… built a foundation for his children and his grandchildren.”
Once in the U.S., Saeidi began working on a farm before moving to New York City to open grocery stores. After retiring 10 years ago, he reportedly wanted to retire to his hometown in Yemen. He had a trip planned on July 17, the family said.
“My heart is broken, my family is devastated,” Ahmed said. “We couldn’t believe what happened. I need justice.”
Several hundred people attended Saeidi’s funeral on Sunday at a community center in the Bronx.
“When he came from Yemen, he had nothing,” Hachid Assaedi, Saeidi’s cousin, said at the memorial. “He worked himself up and sent his children to become doctors. He supported a lot of people.”
“He really was one of the most amazing people I’ve seen,” Gaon, the neighbor, said. “He was a Muslim. I’m a Jew. And we were like brothers. He helped one time my daughter and another girl. Somebody tried to put them in a car so he started yelling at them. They ran away. That’s years ago, almost 30 years ago.”
Footage of the incident obtained by the Daily News depicts the killer coming from behind and shooting Saeidi in the back. Saeidi is then seen struggling to stand and collapsing as bystanders attempt to help him. He died at a nearby hospital.
Abdul Aziz, 36, who works at a deli across the street from where Saeidi was shot, said he and his cousin ran to help after hearing Yemeni Arabic spoken.
“I see when this happen to him,” Aziz said. “…He was like this on the floor, laid down. And my friend, he go help him. We call the ambulance. We call the cops. We call the police… And some people they just record the video.”
Aziz, who’s also Yemeni, said his cousin saw Saeidi’s family show up at the scene later, crying as they cleaned up their loved one’s blood.
“How do you do this to a human being? Pass by on a scooter and shoot?” he asked. “He shot behind him. I don’t know what to say. You don’t do this to human beings.”
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