Abdul Rahman Waziri, a 31-year-old Afghan refugee and father of two, was fatally shot on April 27 in a Houston apartment complex during a dispute over a parking spot. Despite the shooter admitting to the killing and eyewitness accounts suggesting he was the aggressor, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has declined to press charges, citing the need for additional investigative information.
Surveillance footage obtained by The Post appears to show the unidentified gunman approaching Waziri aggressively before the shooting and then casually walking away. The video, while not capturing the shooting itself due to obstruction, reportedly shows the shooter vandalizing Waziri’s car and initiating the conflict. Witnesses claim the gunman retrieved a firearm and shot Waziri multiple times. After the incident, the shooter admitted to police that he was the shooter and claimed self-defense. Officers confiscated his firearm at the scene and handcuffed him before releasing him.
Waziri’s family and former U.S. military comrades have expressed outrage over the lack of charges. Green Beret Ben Hoffman, who served alongside Waziri in Afghanistan, described him as “a lion. He was a warrior. He was a hero.” Retired Special Forces Green Beret Chris Wells, who helped petition the U.S. government to grant Waziri a special visa for assisting U.S. troops, said, “to have him come here and get shot to death over a parking spot” was “completely disheartening.”
Waziri’s brother, Abdullah Khan, recounted the day after the shooting, stating he saw the alleged killer casually walk past him as he was cleaning up after shooting. “I was like ‘Oh my God,’ he was looking at me like he didn’t like me. I was the one talking to the news. Cleaning up my brother’s blood,” Khan said.
The case has sparked broader concerns about justice and the safety of immigrants in the U.S. Waziri, who fled Afghanistan for the U.S. to escape the Taliban after working alongside U.S. troops, is being remembered as a hero for his service. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to cover expenses and return his body to Afghanistan.
