Motive yet to be ascertained.
A retired Pakistani American army man killed his wife and college-going son, shooting them to death at separate locations, before committing suicide with the same weapon, in Harford County, Maryland, on Thursday.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Nasir Siddique, 57, shot dead his wife, 48-year-old Zarqa Siddique, who worked for the Harford school system helping students with severe disabilities, at their home north of Baltimore in Bel Air. He was found later in a vehicle miles away. He had shot his son, Farhan Siddique, a Junior at University of Maryland, and then killed himself inside a Jeep.
Officers searching the Siddique home found a note that contained no specifics about a motive, said Capt. Brian Reilly of the Prince George’s County Police Department, which was called to the homicide scene in College Park, reported The Washington Post.
“We’re still looking into the motive, and what could make somebody kill his wife, come down and meet his son in College Park, kill his son, and then turn the gun on himself. I don’t know if we’ll ever find out,” Reilly said Thursday.
Farhad Siddique was 19 and would have turned 20 on Thursday.
Reilly, commander of the department’s homicide unit, said that Nasir Siddique was found in the driver’s seat of the Jeep, with a handgun in his lap. His son was in the passenger seat. Investigators said they think the window was shattered by a bullet, reported the Post.
The family is survived by a daughter, who is a student at an out-of-state university, Reilly said.
Reilly said investigators are “in the early stages” of their investigation and are interviewing family members and co-workers of Nasir Siddique, reported the Baltimore Sun.
“For somebody to take that step to kill their own child — you never understand that. It’s tough to describe how somebody could do that,” Reilly said.
Nasir Siddique was an employee at the Department of Public Works for the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground. He had served in active duty in the Army and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. More recently, he was a commissioner on the Governor’s Commission on Maryland Military Monuments, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Baltimore Sun reported Nasir Siddique worked as a preventive medicine officer, according to his military service records.
He joined the Army in February 1981 before heading to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Kansas State University. Siddique’s first assignment upon being commissioned was at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and he went on to serve in positions around the country, ending his military career in 2010 in Washington, according to his records.
At a news conference Thursday, Maj. William Davis, a spokesman for the Harford Sheriff’s Office, said that when deputies arrived at the house, they couldn’t make contact with any occupants, and forced their way inside.
They found the body of Zarqa Siddique in a bathroom. She had a gunshot wound to the head, according to authorities, who said that she probably died several hours before deputies arrived.
While deputies were at the home, Davis said, they were told of the unfolding incident in College Park involving the father and son.
Davis said there was no apparent history of domestic violence at the Siddique home. He said a revolver was recovered from the crime scene in College Park, and a projectile believed to be fired from that revolver was recovered from the family’s home, reported the Post.
Aasi Tahir Siddique, Nasir’s brother, said Nasir had sent him a text message at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, in which he wrote that he was under stress and referred to his job. He also said his brother had been depressed since their mother died in March. Still, the news of what happened was shocking, he said, because he doesn’t believe his brother could ever “reach the point” of harming his family in such a way.
“This is just unbelievable,” Aasi Siddique said. “I just can’t figure this out.”
He said his niece, the couple’s surviving daughter, is “completely devastated.”
Farhad Siddique graduated from C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air, where he played tennis, in 2014.
Crystal Brown, a University of Maryland spokeswoman, said the campus community was “deeply saddened” by Farhad Siddique’s death, but declined to comment on his time at the school.
“This is a tragedy that will be felt by our entire community,” Brown said. “During this time of loss, we extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the victims.”
The university’s Muslim Students Association also mourned Farhad Siddique’s death, calling him “a dear friend and brother to many in the University of Maryland community” in a Facebook post.
“He is remembered as a hardworking, compassionate individual who helped others in any way he could,” the group wrote.
Shareese N. Churchill, a spokeswoman for Gov. Larry Hogan, called the events “an unspeakable tragedy” and said “the governor’s prayers are with the family of the victims of this horrific crime.”
Aasi Siddique had proudly posted about his brother’s family on a blog on the CNN website. In a 2014 post, he wrote that Nasir and Zarqa were born in Pakistan and migrated to the United States at a young age. He said his brother “proudly served our country with dedication and pride.”
In another post, he wrote that he was “humbled and proud of my brother” and admired his “dedication, pride, commitment and true patriotism for God, country and family.”
1 Comment
Just too strange. Similar to the Jeffrey MacDonald case where the innocence project has been trying to exonerate Jeffrey since the last two decades. There are good indications that this could well be an intelligence agency silencing given the roots of the Siddiqis.
Especially the fact that the ISI monitored and controlled Pakistani press has not been allowed to print a word on this bit of spicy news – normally Paki papers hunt closely and monitor any tidbit of favorable or unfavorable news and remotely connected to Pakistan. Any comments about an intelligence silencing can open cans of worms for all agencies involved, American or Pakistani. Siddiqui may have been a deep mole of the ISI close to the Pentagon and as a senior desk official a number of sensitive documents could have leaked through him to the ISI. It may have been untenable for the agencies involved to keep him alive. Conspiracy theory? Maybe not given the antecedents and immoral workings of the deep state, Very instructive and interesting to listen to an ex-ISI chief showcasing with pride the pervasive reflections of a deep terrorist state: (goo.gl/vOo1RM)