Dr. Benjamin Harouni, El Cajon, California dentist fatally gunned down by disgruntled former patient, Mohammed Abdulkareem. Authorities stress, victim who was Jewish was not shot dead as a result of hate crime.
A California man who went on a shooting spree at an El Cajon dental office on Thursday, killing one person and injuring two others did so on account of having a vendetta against one of the three residing dentists.
Mohammed Abdulkareem, 29, a former patient, allegedly stormed into ‘Smile Plus Dentistry & Orthodontics’ around 4:15 p.m. and opened gunfire, striking two adult men and one adult woman.
The gunman then hopped in a U-Haul pick-up with Arizona plates and fled the scene, before his eventual capture five hours later that evening the El Cajon Police Department said according to a release.
Ej Cajon was recent dental graduate
At the time of his capture, near the abandoned U-Haul, Abdulkareem was carrying a loaded handgun and several loaded handgun magazines.
The deceased man was identified as Dr. Benjamin Harouni, a Jewish dentist who worked at the dental practice owned by his father, Yeshiva World reported.
Receptionist, Yareli Carrillo, 28, and a man in his 40s were the other victims of the shooting, according to the outlet.
Medical personnel tried to save Harouni’s life, but the 28 year old recent dental graduate (2022) died on the sidewalk in front of the Smile Plus dental office around 4:53 p.m., county officials said. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, NBC San Diego reported, citing officials.
Harouni was a licensed dentist according to the Dental Board of California.
Unwittingly a number of patients showed up at the dental practise on Friday hoping to get treatment for a range of dental problems only to find out that Dr Harouni who was scheduled to treat them had been shot dead the day before, CBS8 San Diego reported.
Not motivated by antisemitism
Cops said the shooting appeared to have been planned out weeks in advance, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.
Records show Abdulkareem legally purchased the handgun just two weeks earlier and renting the U-Haul one hour before allegedly gunning down his ex-dentist.
‘While the exact motive behind the shooting remains under investigation, it is believed that Abdulkareem was a disgruntled former customer,’ the El Cajon Police Department said in a statement.
It remained unclear when Abdulkareem first becoming a patient at Smile Plus Dentistry.
Captain Rob Ransweiler said Abdulkareem was familiar to the people inside the office, as reported by The San Diego Union-Tribute. The official stressed the shooting was not the result of a hate crime.
A whole life ahead of him robbed
The Anti-Defamation League in San Diego said Friday that the victim of the shooting was a member of the Jewish community, but said police have found no indication it was caused by antisemitism.
Smile Plus Dentistry lists Harouni as one of three doctors who work for his father Jack Harouni, who owns the El Cajon-based office.
The Harounis, who were Persian Jews, were described as ‘traditional Sephardic,’ following customs that spanned the Conservative and Orthodox branches of Judaism.
Harouni had celebrated his birthday just nine days before his slaying, according to a social media post.
Many friends of the family are expected at the ‘much adored’ dentist funeral service, tentatively set for 10 a.m., Sunday, at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Cayon Road, San Diego, San Diego Jewish World reported.
Rabbi Zalman Carlebach, of Chabad of Downtown San Diego, where the Harouni family were members, in a statement to NBC7 said that the community had lost a precious soul.
‘Benjamin was a beautiful, kind, and caring young man, who had his entire life ahead of him,’ Carlebach said.
Abdulkareem following his arrest was booked into a San Diego jail on felony charges, including one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
He remains held without bail.
