Tampa mosque faces lawsuit filed by family of man shot by security guard
TAMPA, Fla. May 31 2019 The family of a man shot and killed in the parking lot of a Tampa mosque has filed a lawsuit.
The family of Rafat Saeed says he was killed in the parking lot of the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay, during Ramadan, by a volunteer security guard, identified in the suit as MD Rakibul Haque.
Hillsborough County deputies said there had been an argument just before the shooting.
Saeed’s widow, Huda Kareem knows all the lawsuits in the world won’t bring back her husband, but she insists someone should pay.
“How can you kill a human being, an innocent human, take a life as my husband?” Huda Kareem said through one of her attorneys Sam Badawi.
Her lawyers are claiming wrongful death. He says the alleged shooter should have been fired after Saeed told Islamic Society supervisors, weeks before the shooting, that Haque verbally and physically threatened him.
“The essential duty of a security guard is to preserve a life, not to waste it,” Badawi said.
The lawyers also say Haque was not properly trained in crisis intervention, de-escalation techniques, and when lethal or non-lethal force should be used.
Finally, they say the mosque knew about alleged threats made by Haque but didn’t have a higher-up supervising him the night of the shooting.
“Mr. Saeed told the executives at the mosque, ‘Hey, this guy has a problem, this guy is dangerous.’ They did nothing about it,” attorney David Eaton said.
While the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office says the shooting is still under investigation, Kareem’s lawyer says, during the deadly confrontation between the two men, Haque shoved Saeed to the ground, face first, and shot him twice in the back.
Investigators have not made an official determination about what lead to the confrontation. The Islamic Society did not want to comment on the lawsuit.
No one answered the door at Haque’s home address and he did not return a text message or phone call, requesting comment.
FOX13
