TAMPA, Fla. — The widow of a man shot and killed at a Tampa mosque on May 20 has filed a wrongful death complaint against the mosque.
- Complaint describes shooter as "on-duty security guard"
- Shooter allegedly shoved victim face-first into ground before shooting him
- Mosque maintains shooter was not on duty at time of shooting
- More Hillsborough County stories
The complaint alleges that the victim, Rafat Saeed, 36, raised concerns to the mosque about his attacker before the incident, calling him "dangerous."
It goes on to describe the shooter as "an on-duty security guard," and reveals that Saeed was shoved face-first into the ground and then shot twice in the back.
After the shooting, officials with the mosque maintained that the shooter was not acting as a volunteer at the time of the shooting.
"When the incident happened he was not on duty, he was not on shift, he was not volunteering, he was actually just going home after services," said Ahmed Bedier with the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office will only confirm that no one has been charged yet in the case.
The complaint also accuses the mosque of negligence in terms of training in crisis intervention, proper administration of lethal and non-lethal force for security volunteers and maintaining safe conditions at the mosque.
Saeed, according to the complaint, did not feel safe and reported the shooter to the mosque for threats of verbal and physical violence before his death.
The Sheriff's Office is still asking that anyone with any knowledge of the case come forward.
We reached out to the mosque for comment. A spokesperson said they had only just learned of the lawsuit and did not comment.