Houston Afghan community outraged after man who shot, killed refugee in parking dispute walks free

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Members of the Houston Afghan community want answers after a man who fatally shot an Afghan refugee was allowed to walk free.

Abdul Rahman Waziri, who worked with the U.S. Special Forces before fleeing his native country when it fell to the Taliban, was shot multiple times at his west Houston apartment complex on Ocee Street Sunday night.

"He came here to be safe, and here, when he came, this happened to him," the victim's brother, Abdullah Khan, said.

The shooter came forward the night of the shooting, but police say the District Attorney's Office declined to take charges.

"We believe this was a public execution. There's no other way to call it," Omar Khawaja, an attorney representing Waziri's family, said.

Khawaja says Waziri had pulled up to check his mail when another man got angry about where Waziri had parked.

According to witnesses, lawyers say they interviewed, the man started vandalizing Waziri's car, and the two men came to blows.

"After the altercation is already over and Mr. Waziri is walking back to his car, shooter grabs a gun and murders him. He executes him in cold blood," Khawaja said.

Police say a man at the scene identified himself as the shooter and told an officer that he and the victim were arguing over parking.

After taking a statement from the man and speaking with the DA's Office, police released the shooter, who community leaders say is still living at the apartment complex where the shooting occurred.

"Everybody was afraid that if the murderer is living amongst us, he killed somebody yesterday and he's back here today," Omer Yousafzai, an Afghan community leader, said.

"We want the guy to be arrested, and he was walking in front of me. That's unacceptable," Khan said.

Friday afternoon, Khan and about two dozen others took their concerns to police.

Eyewitness News was on hand as they marched into HPD headquarters, some with handheld signs calling for justice.

Officers met with Khan and his attorney, who said he turned over the names of witnesses he says police haven't interviewed yet.

Following the meeting, he said he was more optimistic about the police investigation than when he walked in.

The DA's Office declined to comment.