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Weeks after 32-year-old Mohammed Nizamuddin from Telangana’s Mahabubnagar was shot dead by the police in the United States, his family has sought help from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to bring his mortal remains back to his hometown.
Nizamuddin was shot after he stabbed his flatmate with a knife earlier this month, according to a police statement. Before his death, Nizamuddin had made a social media post alleging that he had been wrongfully terminated from his job last year due to racial discrimination. He also alleged aggressive behaviour from his flatmates.
In a letter dated September 18, Nizamuddin’s father, Mohammed Hasnuddin, wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking help to bring back his mortal remains.
“Today morning I came to know that he has been shot dead by Santa Clara Police and his mortal remains are in some hospital in Santa Clara, California. I do not know the actual reasons why police shot him dead,” the father said in his letter.
Nizamuddin was shot on the morning of September 3 at his residence in Santa Clara, California, by a police officer named Robert Allsup. On September 5, Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) Chief Cory Morgan gave a press conference detailing the shooting but withheld the identity of the deceased, saying they were still trying to notify the next of kin.
According to Chief Cory Morgan, police received a disturbance call on the morning of September 3 from one of Nizamuddin’s flatmates.
“On Wednesday (September 3) morning, at approximately 06:18 am, officers responded to a 911 call on the 1800 block of Eisenhower Drive involving a disturbance between two roommates. Officers received information that the situation had escalated and that the suspect was now stabbing the victim. The first arriving officer ran to the front door and identified themselves. The officer could hear a loud commotion inside and decisively made a crisis entry into the residence by kicking open a locked front door. The officer quickly followed the sounds toward the hallway where the attack was taking place,” Chief Morgan said at the press conference.
He added, “The officer saw four people in the hallway, including the suspect, who was straddling the victim, effectively pinning the victim to the ground. I’ll direct your attention to the still image from the involved officer’s body-worn camera. You can see the suspect is positioned on top of the victim, and the victim's on the bottom.”
Chief Morgan further said, “The officer attempted to de-escalate the situation with verbal commands, but the suspect ignored the commands and raised their arm, holding the knife in a striking position above the victim. The officer saw the suspect's hand, holding the knife, come down towards the victim. The officer shot four times, striking the suspect with all four of the shots.”
Two stills from Allsup’s bodycam footage during the shooting were presented at the press conference with facial features blurred. SCPD further said that the two knives had been retrieved from the scene. Nizamuddin was declared dead when taken to the hospital, the SCPD Chief also said.
The flatmate suffered multiple stab wounds to the hands, chest, lung and abdomen, Chief Morgan added.
Nizamuddin had moved to the US in 2016 to pursue a Masters degree in Computer Science from the Florida Institute of Technology. He had since worked in various tech companies.
Before his death, Nizamuddin had made a LinkedIn post alleging that while working at a company called EPAM Systems, his employment was wrongfully terminated due to racial discrimination. He also alleged that he wasn’t paid fairly and faced harassment and intimidation. The post also mentions that he had faced eviction threats recently.
In the same post, he shared a statement denying that he had shown aggressive behaviour towards his flatmates. He named his flatmates and several staff members of EPAM Systems and their client Google.
According to Chief Morgan, there had been a prior call on August 12 from Nizamuddin’s flat over a dispute between him and the same flatmate he is said to have stabbed. In that case, the dispute was over leaving the air conditioner on while the windows were open.
Nizamuddin’s father told the media that his son had been living with people who worked at the same company where he previously worked and that he had been facing pressure over pending rent dues.