MD - Shadi Najjar & Artem Ziberov, fatally shot, Montgomery Co., 5 June 2017

[amateurwebtective]

The most baffling thing to me is the 22 gunshots. This was a vicious attack, and JMO, far from a random homicide. To fire 22 shots into a car in a residential neighborhood... I don't know, my gut tells me this had to be planned—or, at the very least, not a random killing. However, the motive is not important at the moment. What's important is LE gathering evidence and finding the individual(s) who committed this horrifying crime.

Such a sad story. My deepest sympathies to the families of these two bright young men. They had their entire lives ahead of them.

 

[amateurwebtective]

IMO, this is likely. Wonder if the tickets they intended to sell are missing. Why would someone kill for graduation tickets? Just so they could re-sell them for more money? Seems like a risky business endeavor, especially the night before graduation. Might the killer(s) been present at the ceremony? Again, could have been a case of insane jealousy toward these 2 young men?

I'm inclined to agree. I could see the grad tickets being used to lure the two to that location. It's senseless (and, to be blunt, impractical) to kill two people for grad tickets. Not to mention, one victim was found with cash clenched in his fist.

 

[abstr]

Was the HS they attended a private school,? I'm wondering if the kids that attend that school are known as "rich kids"? I didn't get that impression from anything that I've read, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

It is not a private school but Montgomery Village is a "wealthy " area near D.C. There isn't a real "need" for private schools there. All things considered, not super exclusive but if you live there you are upper middle class and would be upper class if it wasn't for Potomac and certain areas of DC and Northern Virginia

 

[Razz]

Was the HS they attended a private school,? I'm wondering if the kids that attend that school are known as "rich kids"? I didn't get that impression from anything that I've read, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

It is not a private school but Montgomery Village is a "wealthy " area near D.C. There isn't a real "need" for private schools there. All things considered, not super exclusive but if you live there you are upper middle class and would be upper class if it wasn't for Potomac and certain areas of DC and Northern Virginia

Were the boys in an area that feeds into their particular high school. I recall one of the father's saying that his son was surprisingly far from home. Also, people in the
culdesac did not recognize the boys.

I hope the boys' phones will help unravel these murders and point to
the perps who did this.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

 

[Indy Anna]

The most baffling thing to me is the 22 gunshots. This was a vicious attack, and JMO, far from a random homicide. To fire 22 shots into a car in a residential neighborhood... I don't know, my gut tells me this had to be planned—or, at the very least, not a random killing. However, the motive is not important at the moment. What's important is LE gathering evidence and finding the individual(s) who committed this horrifying crime.

Such a sad story. My deepest sympathies to the families of these two bright young men. They had their entire lives ahead of them.

The viciousness of the attack suggests the motive was deeply personal. But, I keep thinking of the murder of Brendan Tevlin in NJ. He was shot 8 times (10 shots were fired) while stopped at a traffic light in his dad's Jeep Liberty. LE at first believed he was targeted, suggesting a personal motive. Yet, it turned out that the motive was robbery and the crimes were committed by strangers. The trigger man claimed he "killed Tevlin as an act of 'vengeance' [against the US] for innocent lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran," so was also charged with terrorism. http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/01/accused_brendan_tevlin_killers_journal_follow_the.html

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...lin-19-shot-to-death-West-Orange-25-June-2014

I don't know what the implications are for this case because the viciousness of the killing seems to imply a targeted, personal attack on the young men. But, it's possible the motive is entirely different.

IMO, Najjar and Ziberov went to the neighborhood to sell graduation tickets. But, there are so many questions:

​

1. 
   [*=1] How did they get the tickets? Was each student given a certain number of tickets to give to friends and relatives, or did they buy them, but didn't need all of them or some people cancelled their plans to attend? (the latter seems very possible since they were selling the tickets so close to graduation day.)
   [*=1] Did they try to make a profit off of the tickets? Asking more for the tickets than they paid for them could have incensed someone, I suppose. Was the $20 one young man was found clutching all that the buyer offered them, but was less than they were asking, and an argument ensued?
   [*=1] Did the students typically sell tickets to people they personally invited to attend graduation? If so, the killer is likely someone they knew well.
   [*=1] Would they sell extra tickets to classmates who needed more tickets?
   [*=1] Do any of the victims' classmates live in the Montgomery Village neighborhood?
   [*=1] Were the murders entirely unrelated to selling the tickets? Perhaps they'd already completed the transaction at a nearby house and before they could drive away, they were fired on.

MOO​

 

[margarita25]

Awful...

My guesses at this time is also hate crime or gang member perp (8 rounds).Robbery?

 

[katydid23]

Has there been any mention of any girl friends or crushes. Wondering if there might be an angry, jealous person that wanted revenge?

 

[Jennifer17]

Has there been any mention of any girl friends or crushes. Wondering if there might be an angry, jealous person that wanted revenge?

Or it could be a hate crime, because they were foreign?

 

[Indy Anna]

Has there been any mention of any girl friends or crushes. Wondering if there might be an angry, jealous person that wanted revenge?

I haven't seen any mention of girlfriends. Other classmates haven't even been interviewed by MSM. This seems very hush-hush, but investigators are confident they will solve the case. They must have some promising leads, IMO.

 

[Indy Anna]

Or it could be a hate crime, because they were foreign?

I don't remember seeing anything to indicate either young man was foreign born. MSM does indicate Najjar's family is Islamic--his uncle (IIRC) is an imam and officiated at Shadi's funeral.

 

[katydid23]

Or it could be a hate crime, because they were foreign?

MontgomeryCounty is heavily populated by foreign families. There are a lot of foreign service workers from around the globe that work in nearby Wash DC.

Montgomery Co is 46% white. 54% non-white...So there is a lot of diversity the area.


"Immigrants were 1 in 3 workers in Montgomery County,"===https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/new-americans-maryland

 

[Indy Anna]

A neighbor's surveillance camera picked up the sound of the barrage of gunfire. Faintly, a car can be heard driving away from the area.

<snip> http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Chief-Police-Teens-Killed-Before-Graduation-427303963.html

BBM

“This is a wake-up call for all parents and children. Be close. Don’t leave a space. Don’t leave a gap. Be friends,” he [Shadi's uncle, imam Ammar Najar] said.

[...]

Rather than attend his uncle’s mosque, Shadi liked to attend the Islamic Center of Maryland on Woodfield Road, the imam said. That mosque is only about two miles or so from where the shooting took place.

<snip> http://www.mymcmedia.org/uncle-calls-teens-death-a-wake-up-call/

BBM

BBM1 I wonder if the neighbor's surveillance camera also picked up images of the murder scene, including images of the car heard driving away. Or, maybe there are other surveillance cameras in the neighborhood that picked up images.

BBM2 Shadi, and possibly Artem, may have attended that particular mosque because he knew classmates who went there. Anyway, he may have known people from the mosque who lived in Montgomery Village since it's only 2 miles away.

The statement Shadi's uncle made about a wake-up call for parents and children suggests Shadi, at least, didn't have a close relationship with his parents--to the extent of telling them everything going on in his life.

JMO

 

[Indy Anna]

I can't discount this off the cuff, but I think their reason (given to their parents) for leaving that evening was to sell extra tickets they had for the graduation. It was held at DAR Constitution Hall. So the cash could have been from the transaction. My inclination is that they were lured by the sale of the tickets.

I'm leaning that direction, too. Another question about the tickets I forgot to ask earlier is: Did they advertise their extra tickets and, if so, where/how?

 

[Beth11311]

I'm leaning that direction, too. Another question about the tickets I forgot to ask earlier is: Did they advertise their extra tickets and, if so, where/how?

This was my thought, too. And it's totally possible that if one of their own names was used on a site, perhaps someone made a snap decision that this person was "Muslim" simply because they had a foreign sounding name?
I don't think robbery was a motive as one of them still had cash clutched in his hands. It's possible something else was exchanged besides graduation tickets, tho... Clearly there was a transaction, now whether the person on the other end set this all up remains to be revealed but it sounds very likely. With the viciousness I would have leaned towards either a hate crime or a gang attack but it sounds like the area and the targets don't match for gang violence. Which still leaves us with a hate crime.
22 shots is overkill (pun not intended, sorry). There is a lot of anger that motivated this. With all of the turmoil in the country as of late I sadly wouldn't be shocked if this was motivated by hate; just because they live in a culturally diverse area that doesn't IMO preclude them from such. I have a hard time imagining a student shooting them for graduation tickets - and I imagine if they had we would have maybe a few gunshots max, not 22. And IMO I can't imagine someone killing them just because they were jealous of their achievements. The high number of gun shots is a big indicator of something more nefarious, IMO. The confusion for me is that even if this was a hate crime, the only way this person would have known that they were selling tickets and able to lure them there would have been by seeing their name on a site. And so we come back to something personal. Ugh. I'm spinning.

My questions:
How did they meet this person/people?
What was being exchanged?
Was there any argument? I would think neighbor's surveillance would have picked it up if so.
Were they outspoken or active in any extra-curricular activities that would have put them in someone's sites (re: hate crime)?
Girlfriends/ex-girlfriends
Is it possible they themselves were involved in any sort of drug use/selling (unlikely but still important question).

Two brilliant, kind boys taken on the eve of their graduation. The world is so cruel.


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[Razz]

It sounds like they were shot from behind as one of the rear side windows was shattered.
Which sounds to me like an execution.

But I wonder if one of the killers went to the driver's side
window as the driver still had money clutched in his hand while another shot them from behind and to the side. Or, they were shot from behind and from the driver's side, close up and personal.

The big question is why?

Was the money clutched in the driver's hand his own money or was it the perp's money? Meaning, why would one of the young boys be paying the perp? And if it was the perps money, then it sounds like the boys may have
been lured there under the pretext of someone wanting to buy tickets.



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[elfie]

I'm leaning that direction, too. Another question about the tickets I forgot to ask earlier is: Did they advertise their extra tickets and, if so, where/how?

I hope that LE is combing all of their devices and has pulled their phone records as well. There could be a quasi copycat aspect since it was learned that Richard Collins III, was to have graduated from Bowie State in the days following his murder just one county over.

Or, had either of them been seen speaking with a girl that someone was jealous of, or disapproved of the contact.

 

[Spellbound]

This was my thought, too. And it's totally possible that if one of their own names was used on a site, perhaps someone made a snap decision that this person was "Muslim" simply because they had a foreign sounding name?
I don't think robbery was a motive as one of them still had cash clutched in his hands. It's possible something else was exchanged besides graduation tickets, tho... Clearly there was a transaction, now whether the person on the other end set this all up remains to be revealed but it sounds very likely. With the viciousness I would have leaned towards either a hate crime or a gang attack but it sounds like the area and the targets don't match for gang violence. Which still leaves us with a hate crime.
22 shots is overkill (pun not intended, sorry). There is a lot of anger that motivated this. With all of the turmoil in the country as of late I sadly wouldn't be shocked if this was motivated by hate; just because they live in a culturally diverse area that doesn't IMO preclude them from such. I have a hard time imagining a student shooting them for graduation tickets - and I imagine if they had we would have maybe a few gunshots max, not 22. And IMO I can't imagine someone killing them just because they were jealous of their achievements. The high number of gun shots is a big indicator of something more nefarious, IMO. The confusion for me is that even if this was a hate crime, the only way this person would have known that they were selling tickets and able to lure them there would have been by seeing their name on a site. And so we come back to something personal. Ugh. I'm spinning.

My questions:
How did they meet this person/people?
What was being exchanged?
Was there any argument? I would think neighbor's surveillance would have picked it up if so.
Were they outspoken or active in any extra-curricular activities that would have put them in someone's sites (re: hate crime)?
Girlfriends/ex-girlfriends
Is it possible they themselves were involved in any sort of drug use/selling (unlikely but still important question).

Two brilliant, kind boys taken on the eve of their graduation. The world is so cruel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I tend to agree with this post. The number of shots is especially disturbing. Leaving money in a hand... not likely to be a robbery. Drugs ... perhaps.

Has there been any indication of the type of gun used .... one that automatically fires repeated shots, perhaps. I believe called an automatic? I hope that is not the wave of future crimes ....

 

[Falcon500]

The viciousness of the attack suggests the motive was deeply personal. But, I keep thinking of the murder of Brendan Tevlin in NJ. He was shot 8 times (10 shots were fired) while stopped at a traffic light in his dad's Jeep Liberty. LE at first believed he was targeted, suggesting a personal motive. Yet, it turned out that the motive was robbery and the crimes were committed by strangers. The trigger man claimed he "killed Tevlin as an act of 'vengeance' [against the US] for innocent lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran," so was also charged with terrorism. http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/01/accused_brendan_tevlin_killers_journal_follow_the.html

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...lin-19-shot-to-death-West-Orange-25-June-2014

I don't know what the implications are for this case because the viciousness of the killing seems to imply a targeted, personal attack on the young men. But, it's possible the motive is entirely different.

IMO, Najjar and Ziberov went to the neighborhood to sell graduation tickets. But, there are so many questions:

​

1. 
   [*=1] How did they get the tickets? Was each student given a certain number of tickets to give to friends and relatives, or did they buy them, but didn't need all of them or some people cancelled their plans to attend? (the latter seems very possible since they were selling the tickets so close to graduation day.)
   [*=1] Did they try to make a profit off of the tickets? Asking more for the tickets than they paid for them could have incensed someone, I suppose. Was the $20 one young man was found clutching all that the buyer offered them, but was less than they were asking, and an argument ensued?
   [*=1] Did the students typically sell tickets to people they personally invited to attend graduation? If so, the killer is likely someone they knew well.
   [*=1] Would they sell extra tickets to classmates who needed more tickets?
   [*=1] Do any of the victims' classmates live in the Montgomery Village neighborhood?
   [*=1] Were the murders entirely unrelated to selling the tickets? Perhaps they'd already completed the transaction at a nearby house and before they could drive away, they were fired on.

MOO​

So why would one need to park on a dead end, poorly lit street, to sell graduation tickets? Why not meet the buyer in a shopping center parking lot or at their house? This will turn out to be a drug deal gone bad.

 

[Indy Anna]

So why would one need to park on a dead end, poorly lit street, to sell graduation tickets? Why not meet the buyer in a shopping center parking lot or at their house? This will turn out to be a drug deal gone bad.

BBM
If they were selling graduation tickets, they may very well have delivered the tickets to the buyer's house prior to being shot. They were in a residential neighborhood. One of the victims was clutching $20, so they may have just completed the transaction.

After Montgomery County police officers responded Monday night to a report of the sounds of shots being fired, they found the teens inside a car parked on a residential street in Montgomery Village

<snip> http://abcnews.go.com/US/maryland-teens-found-shot-dead-night-high-school/story?id=47870214
BBM
Or, do you mean why didn't the victims have the buyer come to one of their houses to make the transaction? The potential buyer may have preferred that the tickets be delivered to his/her door, and usually the seller tries to accommodate the buyer. Yet, IF that's the case, I wonder why the person who purchased the tickets hasn't not spoken out about the killings. OTOH, maybe a person who purchased tickets from the victims has spoken to LE, or such a person could be too scared. The murders could have a connection to this other individual and not directly to Shadi and Artem. Maybe they just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. JMO

 

[everybodhi]

<snip> http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Chief-Police-Teens-Killed-Before-Graduation-427303963.html

BBM


<snip> http://www.mymcmedia.org/uncle-calls-teens-death-a-wake-up-call/

BBM

BBM1 I wonder if the neighbor's surveillance camera also picked up images of the murder scene, including images of the car heard driving away. Or, maybe there are other surveillance cameras in the neighborhood that picked up images.

BBM2 Shadi, and possibly Artem, may have attended that particular mosque because he knew classmates who went there. Anyway, he may have known people from the mosque who lived in Montgomery Village since it's only 2 miles away.

The statement Shadi's uncle made about a wake-up call for parents and children suggests Shadi, at least, didn't have a close relationship with his parents--to the extent of telling them everything going on in his life.

JMO

Your first link confirms there were two guns:
"Twenty-three shots from two guns were fired at the car in which Shadi Adi Najjar, 17, and Artem Ziberov, 18, were found dead Monday, sources told News4."
&#8220;We got the medical examiner report yesterday," Manger said. "That has helped us in terms of piecing together the forensic information. We've collected shell casings at the scene. We've got witnesses who have told us how many shots they heard.&#8221;
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Chief-Police-Teens-Killed-Before-Graduation-427303963.html