A 30-year-old Indian tech professional, Mohammed Nizamuddin from Mahabubnagar, Telangana, was shot dead by police in Santa Clara, California.
The incident took place on September 3, after he allegedly stabbed his roommate during an argument, reportedly over an air conditioner.
Responding to a 911 call about a stabbing incident, the Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) shot Nizamuddin during an altercation with his roommate inside their residence.
According to the Santa Clara Police Department, officers responded to a 911 call and found Nizamuddin holding a knife and pinning down his injured roommate. Police say they instructed both men to show their hands; while the roommate complied, Nizamuddin did not, prompting officers to open fire.
“When the police entered the room, they asked the occupants to show their hands. One boy complied; the other did not. The police then fired four rounds, and the child was shot. It is extremely regrettable that, according to the reports, no proper inquiry took place and the shooting happened so quickly,” one of the deceased man’s relatives told a news agency.
Following the incident, Nizamuddin’s father, Mohammed Hasnuddin, has written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, seeking the Indian Embassy’s help in repatriating his son’s body to Mahabubnagar.
He also claimed that the family was informed of his son’s death on September 18.
He told the minister that his son’s body has been kept at a hospital in Santa Clara, saying he doesn’t know the actual reasons why the police shot him.
While the Santa Clara Police Department is investigating the circumstances around his shooting, the family members allege racial discrimination and demand a thorough investigation.
A viral LinkedIn post by Nizamuddin weeks before the incident revealed he had written about facing racial harassment, wage fraud, and wrongful termination in the US, further fueling the family’s concerns.
In the post, he wrote, “I have been a victim of racial hatred, racial discrimination,racial harassment, torture, wage-fraud, wrongful termination and obstruction of Justice.”
He further called for an end to “racist white American mentality.” “Oppression of corporate tyrants must end and everyone involved in it must be punished severely.”
